Stay
by cupcakesarereallygood
Summary: I regret it, you know? Not saying the one word you wanted to hear.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! I know that I've been gone for a long long time, but yes, I am alive. I have no excuse really, but school is really taking its toll on me and I can't really find the time to write anymore (except maybe when I try to run away from all my school work but that's not really a good idea now, is it?) So to those of you who still read FYF:AR, thank you for your patience, really. You guys all deserve a Nobel Prize for your patience, but don't worry, I don't plan on dropping that story any time soon. I just can't seem to remember where the next chapter was meant to go because I left it half done and now I am completely lost. I will still continue that story but please don't expect frequent updates. I love you guys to the moon and back!**

 **So this is dedicated to all those avid readers of the FYF series, those who stood beside me right from the very beginning ever since I began writing here on FF almost 5 or 6 years ago. As well as to all those who still keep in touch with me through PMs, even if I'm a stupid ass who gives out late replies (seriously FF should have an app that's similar to Facebook so it would be easier to check in with y'all), especially those who came to know me personally.**

 **Small warning: I am not a med student and my course is a far cry from anything medical and I don't really read up on med books so pardon me if I say something wrong. Everything I wrote is simply based off what I could remember (I could've researched more on MD but I didn't have the time soooo please just notify me if there was some kind of mistake!)**

 **Some references from the FYF series will be made but it's just for some minor details. (I just realized this when I got much older but naming an entire story series "Facing Your Fears"is a little embarrassing huh? You can check it out if you're interested but I wrote the first installation when I was like 11 or 12 or something and without proofreading at that so really, expect a lot of mistakes.)**

 **Stay**

 _A wise person once said that we are all bound to meet people that seemingly would change our lives. We'd feel inexplicably connected to this person, a stranger, even more so than anyone else we've met in our lives. Maybe they're angels that were sent to us so they could guide us through difficult times, support us when we are weak, give us a reason to live once we've lost all hope. Perhaps this person will be important to us, they'd mean more to us than any other person that we'd known for the longest times, perhaps we'll consider them to be our better we'll grow to love them, and perhaps they'll love us too. It's fine to take things as they are, simply enjoy the feeling and cherish the moment._

 _But just a word of advice: we may come to love this person, but we must remember that love does not equate to ownership. No matter how much we love them, they will never be ours. Maybe their purpose was to save you, guide you, protect you, and once they fulfill this purpose, they will leave. No matter how much we beg, plead, cry or ask, we cannot force them to stay. The person who once meant everything to us will become a stranger once more.[1]_

"Okay now, Haruto-kun, take deep breaths for me okay?" A young woman asked kindly as she held a stethoscope to the chest of an even younger boy, no older than the age of 7. "Okay, that's great. Thank you very much!"She added with a smile, jotting down her observations on paper.

"Did I do good?" The boy eagerly asked, a wide grin on his face. "Mommy said that because Mikoto-sensei is the one in charge of me, I'm gonna get better faster than any other kid and then I'll be able to run with Naru outside!"

Misaka Mikoto smiled gently at the young child, her hazel eyes glinting with emotion as she lightly ruffled his hair,

"You did great, Haruto-kun, but no running with Naru-chan until I say it's okay for you to do so, alright?" She said, lightly tapping his nose. "You have to drink your medicine and eat all your vegetables so that you'll get better even faster! For now, you should continue your mobility and muscle training exercises with Taeko-sensei alright?"

"Sure! I can go and practice with her now, right?" Mikoto nodded, before pressing the buzzer and asking for a nurse to bring in a wheel chair for the little boy. Once she said her thanks, she felt small hands lightly grasping the fabric of her white coat. "Say, Mikoto-sensei...can I ask you something?" He asked, a small blush dusting his cheeks.

"What is it?"Mikoto sat on the edge of the bed, eagerly awaiting the child's inquiries.

"I'm turning 8 in a few days, remember?" He started, turning his head away from her. "My birthday is on the 1st of May, right?"

"Of course I remember! Did you want to throw a birthday party for you with your friends? If you want, I can ask permission from the Director so you can use one of the function rooms."

"Really?'' The boy immediately perked up at her words, but then suddenly stopped. "No! I mean, that's not what I meant!"

"Oh? I thought you would've wanted to spend it with your friends and Naru-chan?" She asked, puzzled that she was wrong with her guess. "Did you want something else then? If it's something I can help you with, then I'll be glad to do it for you."

"Really? You'll do anything?!" Seeing the boy's enthusiasm, Mikoto couldn't hep but smile wryly at him.

"Of course. Anything for my best little patient!" She answered, with just as much enthusiasm.

"So then you'll marry me?!"

"Of course I'll marry y-wait, WHAT?'' Mikoto paused for a second, staring incredulously at the young child before her who had just seemingly proposed to her.

"I'm turning 8 in a few days and Mommy said that Mikoto-sensei is 26! I'm getting closer to your age! I can marry you then, right?" Haruto stated brazenly, taking the older woman's hand into both of his, making her blush and stumble upon her words.

"H-huh? B-but, Haruto-kun...don't you think I'm a little too old for you?" She asked, trying to pry her hands away from his grasp. "We're 19 years apart for goodness' sake!"

"Nuh-uh! Mommy said that Mikoto-sensei is still pretty young! And you don't have a ring on your finger like Mommy does and you don't even have a boyfriend!" Mikoto visibly flinched at the young boy's words, but tried to brush it off with a nervous laugh. ' _He's just a child Mikoto'_ she thought to herself. ' _Get a grip on yourself and pull it together!'_

"But what about Naru-chan?" Mikoto tried to bring the child's attention to someone else. Someone that wasn't her. "Naru-chan is pretty cute and you get along pretty well, right? Plus you're the same age! You'd be able to play all you want with her once you get better!"

"Naru can be my best man at the wedding!"

"But Naru-chan is a girl, though?"

"But she acts like a boy!" He retorted. "Mikoto-sensei is a lot prettier and more girly! And you're really nice and gentle! You're the perfect wife!"

"Now that's just rude!" The door suddenly slid open, revealing a little girl with messed up hair that was forcefully tied into medium high pigtails. She was wearing a yellow shirt and denim shorts paired with pink socks and sneakers. Behind her were two women who were snickering loudly at the situation. "As if Mikoto-sensei would ever marry the likes of you! And what part of me is like a boy huh?"

"Hey there, Naru-chan!" Mikoto greeted happily, thankful for the girl's interference. "Did you come to visit Haruto-kun? See, Haruto-kun? Naru-chan is worried about y-"

"Hmph! Who cares about that ugly idiot!" Naru stomped indignantly as she made her way towards Mikoto, clinging onto her waist once she got to her. "I'm here to protect you from this idiot!"

"Who's the idiot here, stupid Naru!" Haruto asked with a cute little glare directed at his childhood friend.

"You are, obviously, stupid face!" Naru stuck her tongue out and made a face at him. "Mikoto-sensei is too kind to refuse when you're desperately forcing her to marry you! Someone needs to stay by her side and make sure that no ones takes advantage of her kindness!"

"Alright now, kids. I think that's enough." One of the women who were behind Naru a few minutes ago entered the room, wheeling in a wheel chair. She was a kind looking woman with glasses who had her medium length black hair tied back into a simple pony tail. She wore the usual white and blue scrub suit prescribed to the physical therapists of the hospital. "Haruto-kun is going to be late for his training if you keep that up."

"Oh thank God you finally decided to show up." Mikoto sighed exasperatedly.

"Taeko-sensei!" Naru greeted happily. "Please go ahead and take stupid Haruto so he can go ahead and do his training while I stay here with Mikoto-sensei!"

"Hey! That's no fair!" Haruto immediately responded, sending her glares that she simply ignored, much to his irritation.

"Naru-chan..." Taeko smiled kindly as she squatted down to face the little girl. "You know, today is Mikoto-sensei's day-off. She shouldn't even be here today, so she can't stay to play with you all."

"Ah, but it's not like I have anything to do-" Mikoto interjected, but was stopped when the other woman decided to enter the room, closing the door behind her.

"And I guess this is where I come in." She said with a smile, flipping her long black hair back. "Come on, Mikoto-san! It's your first day-off and you want to spend it here, in the hospital, in your place of work? You're defeating the purpose of having day-offs!"

"Nice to see you too, Ruiko." Mikoto sighed, greeting her long time friend, Saten Ruiko. She wore a loose fitting, white button up blouse with bluish slacks cut a few inches above her ankles paired with white shoes. "But it's not like I wanted to have this day-off. I would've been perfectly fine even if- "

"You haven't taken a single day-off since you started working except for holidays, Mikoto-sensei. The Director personally gave you a day-off. If you could call it that. He practically gave you a week!" Taeko explained as she helped Haruto onto the wheel chair.

"The Director?" Naru asked quizically. Ruiko smiled before walking over to the young girl and fixing her hair. "The big old guy with the beard?"

"That's right, Naru-chan" Ruiko laughed as she re-tied the girl's hair. "But he's no ordinary old guy, he's Mikoto-san's father."

"I swear..." Mikoto sighed. "Isn't he abusing his power? Giving his daughter a week-off just like that! It's not like he does that to every other doctor in this hospital!"

"Seriously, Mikoto-san..'' Ruiko sighed as she finished fixing Naru's hair, patting the girl's bangs so that they'd stay down. "You must've set a record for the longest time of working without taking any leaves or absences. It's been nearly two years! That's why you and me are gonna go and have a girl's night out with Kuroko-san and Kazari, just like the good old days."

"Even if I did try to escape, chances are Kuroko would come after me with her teleportation and just bring me back to wherever we're staying at for the night." She sighed in defeat, knowing that there was no way out. The two women eagerly awaited the young doctor's reply as the two children simply sat there, completely unaware of what was happening. "Alright fine, but I'm only taking two days off, got it? I can't leave my patients unattended for an entire week!"

"It's not like you're the only doctor in this hospital, Mikoto-san. This place has the best pool of doctors! You don't have to worry about your patients, but well...Tabigake-san knew you wouldn't take the entire week off." Ruiko smiled as she watched her friend get up from her position on the bed.

"If he knew me so well then why give me a week-off at all?" Mikoto mumbled under her breath as she knelt down to face the two little kids, one who was currently seated in a wheel chair and the other who stood protectively beside him. "Sorry I can't play with you guys today. I promise I'll play with you next time, okay?"

"Ruiko-nee always takes away Mikoto-sensei from us..." Naru pouted as she stared at the scuffs of her shoes.

"Sorry about that kid. But we need to spend some quality time with Mikoto-sensei or else she's gonna end up as a lonely, successfully rich doctor with no social life. " Ruiko grinned as she stood beside Mikoto, a hand to her hip.

"She's not gonna be lonely!" Haruto interrupted. "She's gonna marry me! And I'll be with her always so she'll never be lonely!" His abrupt declaration made Taeko and Ruiko snicker once more as Mikoto just blushed and shook her head.

"Thanks for that, Haruto-kun, but you should really just focus on getting better, alright?" She said with a smile as she stood up and let Taeko wheel him out, Naru following shortly behind them. "Remember not to push yourself too hard and always listen to Taeko-sensei, okay? Be nice and watch over him for me, okay, Naru-chan?" She called out once more as the two kids smiled at her and gave a big wave of farewell before the door closed behind them, leaving Mikoto and Ruiko alone in the room.

"Those kids are just adorable." Ruiko stated as Mikoto took off her white coat and stethoscope. "I'd bet that once they get into middle school, they're gonna start acting weird towards one another and then they'll realize that they loved each other the whole time they were bickering."

"Don't you think they're a little too young to be thinking about love?" Mikoto asked skeptically. "Haruto-kun needs to focus all his energy into getting better so he can actually go to school properly by the time they become middle schoolers." She stated, her voice sounding gruff and tired. Ruiko immediately frowned as she followed Mikoto out the door, the sound of the young doctor's low heels clacking against the tile floor.

"How bad is it?" She finally asked as she realized that they were walking towards Mikoto's office. "Is his condition improving at all?"

"His condition is improving, but it's not really enough to consider him getting better, if you know what I mean." Mikoto answered lowly as she checked her clipboard which had the young boy's files. "We've managed to strengthen his structure, and as you can see, he looks normal, almost as if he doesn't have muscular dystrophy . We've also managed to slow down the degeneration of his muscles, but it's still not enough. We still can't find the cure."

"Isn't his physical therapy going smoothly? Taeko's the best physical therapist in Academy City and she's been at his case for as long as he's been diagnosed with MD."

"It's going as well as it possibly could but PT isn't really the cure. It helps in the alleviation of some of the symptoms." Mikoto sighed as they reached her office. She slumped down on her comfortable desk chair, placing the files on her desk. "Since MD is mostly hereditary or is caused by mutation during the early stages of development, I thought that if we studied more on the patient's DNA we could figure it out, but I guess it really isn't that easy."

"Hey now..." Ruiko chided, standing in front of Mikoto's wide oak desk. "This disease has been around for as long as humans have been alive. Of course it's not gonna be easy! If it was, then Einstein or some other genius would've found the cure to it already!"

"I know that...but Ruiko..." Mikoto swerved her chair around so she could face the wall where her diplomas and certificates were placed immaculately in frames, along with a few pictures of her with her friends and family. Among these was a frame which had a green Gekota stationary paper filled with numerous Thank you's and a single small square frame which held a tiny semi-wilted cherry blossom petal. "Treating MD is the only thing I have left to live for..."

Ruiko silently stared at her friend, unable to find the proper words to say back to her. What could one possibly say to that open declaration of hopelessness? ' _Í can't really blame her though... Losing people she loved one after another just like that. How could you live every day of your life knowing that things would just never be the same again_?'

"Mikoto-san..." Ruiko choked out after several troubling minutes of silence.

"I'm sorry about that." Mikoto smiled sadly at her friend, picking up her bag from the other table and rummaging through it's contents. "I probably shouldn't have went off and blabbered stupid stuff like that. You were saying something about a girls' night out?"

"Mikoto-san, you know that we'll always be-" Ruiko tried to say, before she was once again interrupted by the young woman whose hazel eyes reflected nothing but sorrow and a tinge of desperation.

"It's fine." She said lowly, standing up and placing the files in order. "Thank you, but I'm fine. Talking about things like this will surely ruin your mood, and we can't have that if we're going out with the girls tonight." Ruiko kept her gaze on Mikoto, before shaking her head and sighing.

"You know, you're only a year older than the three of us." She said, following Mikoto as she went out and locked her office doors. "You don't have to act like Kuroko-san's onee-sama or anything, even if she still calls you that. Isn't it about time that you outgrew that facade of yours? No one sees you as the Ace or the Princess or as an Angel anymore."

After a while of not hearing a response, Ruiko said no more as the two of them silently walked in the hallways towards the parking lot. Once they were seated in Mikoto's car, with her in the driver's seat and Ruiko riding shotgun, Mikoto simply sat still for a while, not starting the car or even pushing the key into ignition.

"Mikoto-san?" Ruiko asked, unable to bear the silence anymore. Mikoto sat still for a few moments more before turning the key, her car roaring into life.

"A lot of things in this world are easier said than done, Ruiko." She said icily, not bothering to turn her head to face Ruiko as she simply put the car in reverse and drove away from the parking lot.

"The same way a lot of things in this world are actually quite easier than you make it out to be." Ruiko retorted just as coldly after a few more seconds of silence. With that, Misaka Mikoto had nothing left to say, and they spent the rest of the journey in silence.

* * *

"Uh oh..." Uiharu Kazari sighed as she stared at the message on her phone. "Looks like Ruiko failed, Kuroko-san. It seems as though Mikoto-san still gets extremely touchy with the topic." She called out to her friend who was busying herself in the kitchen.

"I figured just as much..." Kuroko sighed as she brought in a tub of popcorn into the living room of her penthouse. "What's their status as of now?"

"It seems like Ruiko talked back to Mikoto-san and Mikoto-san gave her the cold shoulder for half an hour. She only started behaving normally when she asked Ruiko what kind of clothes she should be packing for the night." Kazari duly reported, a habit she had not lost ever since her days as a Judgment officer.

"I guess this result is better than last year's attempt. At least she ends up coming with us this time. You ended up floundering about and crying the minute Mikoto-neesama snapped and she stormed off and went back to work."

"I already apologized for that didn't I?" Kazari whined as she placed her phone onto the table, hugging a pillow to her chest. "Seeing Mikoto-san like that...just really surprised me. How come you're never the one to try and talk to her? You've known her the longest out of all of us!"

"That's precisely the reason why I can't be the one to go and convince her." Kuroko sighed as she plopped down on her black single seater. "I know exactly what makes her tick and given my temper, I might just go ahead and make her explode at me. Given that magnitude, I'm not even sure if we'd ever be able to repair our bond after something like that."

"Mikoto-san always gets volatile when it's a week before her birthday..." Kazari thought out loud as she stared at the ceiling, the flower crown she used to wear reduced to a small bunch of flowers that tied her medium length hair and hung loosely on her shoulder. "It's been two years huh? Somehow I can remember everything as if it just happened the other day."

"Oh trust me." Kuroko muttered darkly. "The desire to kill gets stronger and stronger every time I see Mikoto-neesama so depressed and mournful all because-"

"You can't kill someone who's no longer here, Kuroko-san." Kazari's words gave way to a temporary pause as Kuroko tried to piece herself together once more. She looked at her phone and noticed the date: April 26. They both knew that today was just the beginning of the week-long struggle. "You know, come to think of it, I never really understood why Touma-niisan did the things he did. He loved her with everything he had. We could all see it as clear as day. Wouldn't he normally consider Mikoto-san's feelings, given the situation back then? How could he just..." Kazari trailed off, her mind losing the ability to find the right words. The light buzzing of several appliances around the room could be heard as neither of them spoke.

"Maybe it was precisely because of that." Kuroko answered simply as she saw her electronic picture frame flashing pictures of their younger years, of her beloved Onee-sama with him.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Kazari asked, watching Kuroko as she made a move to stand up and pick up the frame from the table.

"Maybe it was because he loved her too much." She angrily shut down the electronic picture frame, throwing it inside a random drawer, not caring if it broke. "And for that...I'll never forgive him."

Silence enveloped the room once more, before small cluttering noises could be heard.

"Kazari~! Kuroko-san~!" Ruiko's voice called out as she walked into the living room. "I brought along Mikoto-san. Did you guys finish preparing everything?"

"We're as prepared as we possibly could." Kuroko smiled, acting as if the tense aura from before didn't exist. "I'm surprised you managed to drag Mikoto-neesama from her work. Considering the fact that she almost _never_ has the time to spend with any of us." She added poking fun at her once revered upperclassman.

"Now come on, you know that that's not true, Kuroko."Mikoto huffed, dropping a small duffel bag onto the floor. "I'm not always so busy that I don't spend time with you guys. We go out for coffee every once in a while, don't we?"

"And that's about everything." Ruiko walked across the living room, taking a seat beside Kazari and grabbing a handful of popcorn. "You never go shopping with us, you don't go to the movies with us, you don't even join in on our sleep overs!" She counted off with her fingers, her mouth still full of the savory treat.

"You know, to be fair, I think we _are_ a little too old for sleep overs, Ruiko." Kazari noted with a smile as she turned to Mikoto, beaming happily. "It's nice to see you again, Mikoto-san. I must say, it has been quite a while since we last saw you."

"And here I thought you were actually on my side on this one, Kazari." Mikoto crossed her arms, feigning annoyance before she sat down. "Though I really am sorry girls. The kids at the hospital really need all the help and attention they can get. Treating MD is like a race against time. We need to find a way to stabilize them before they're rendered unable to walk. I just want to do everything I can for them. I mean, you met some of the kids right?"

"Yes, we've met quite a few of them. Is that Haruto still after your hand in marriage?" Kuroko suddenly asked, appearing behind a blushing Mikoto, carrying a tray of iced refreshments. "God knows how long that kid has been trying to formulate a plan to trick you into marriage."

"How come everyone knew that Haruto-kun saw me that way?" Mikoto muttered, grabbing a glass and gulping it furiously, as if to hide her embarrassment.

"Some things just never change I guess." Kazari answered good-naturedly as she took another glass from the tray.

"Ah, but he did finally set his plan into motion though, Kuroko-san." Ruiko commented, taking Kazari's glass, making the smaller girl frown before she bent over and picked up another one. "The little devil asked Mikoto-san for a favor for his upcoming birthday with this kitten-like expression on his face. Mikoto-san said yes even before she knew what he was asking for."

"If you'd been watching all along then you and Taeko should've done something to help me!" Mikoto whined, remembering the dilemma she was in. "If Naru-chan hadn't show up and busted through the door like that, I probably wouldn't be able to handle rejecting him! Do you know how much trouble that could've been? We're 19 years apart for God's sake! I would've been arrested! All my hard work into becoming a doctor leading towards nothing because I couldn't say no to one of my patients! Oh just imagine the shame!"

"I'm more worried of the fact that you were actually thinking of a future wherein you married the child." Kuroko remarked snidely as she sat on a chair near Mikoto, a glass in hand. "Please don't tell me that the reason you've rejected all my advances throughout the years is because of some pedophilia-related fetish?!"

"Goddamnit, Kuroko. You make me sound like I'm already some kind of criminal. " Mikoto muttered, until a bulb lit up in her head. She looked over to Ruiko and winked at her, which confused the younger girl. "But speaking of crimes, you do realize that I could still send you to prison for all those things you did to me back when we were still in school. Stealing my things, stalking me, taking unwilling pictures of me, and multiple accounts of sexual harassment too."

"Please, Mikoto-neesama. As a lawyer, I already declare myself guilty of crimes of passion." At these words, Ruiko finally got the message Mikoto was sending, her eyes glinting with mischief.

"Crimes of passion, my ass." Ruiko commented, a smirk gracing her face. "I'd bet you're up on a different level of passion altogether with your Keisuke-dearest." Kuroko flushed beet red as the three other girls merely laughed away at her embarrassment and misery. "Seriously though, years upon years of dating and you still act like some kind of teenager in love whenever we mention his name. Shirai Kuroko, top bar passer, ex-Head of the 117th Branch of Judgment, and given the title of Thorn Queen by all your admirers, blushing and stuttering over a guy! I'd never thought you'd last this long with someone like him, but damn. Look at you now."

"I agree with that one." Mikoto happily added, taking pleasure as Kuroko's face grew even redder, her mouth still trying to find the ability to speak once more. "Kei-kun is so soft-spoken and calm and kind. He's your complete opposite! You've been dating for what? Seven years or something? Give the guy a fewer things to worry about and just accept his proposal why don't you?"

"Wah...Why do you know about that?!" Kuroko exclaimed, standing up from her seat. "I never even told anyone yet so how come-"

"Kuroko-san, no one would ever dare propose to a girl without consulting the girl's closest friends and family first." Kazari answered with a smile, completely amused at how the girl was acting. "He contacted all three of us and asked for Mikoto-san's help in reaching your family and asking for your hand." This was news to Kuroko's ears as the other three girls went on with their expose.

"It was a good thing Papa was well-acquainted with your father." Mikoto stood up to take the glass away from Kuroko's hand before she threw it at anyone, and sat back down. "It was really amusing watching Kei-kun fidget nervously all night. He asked me to accompany him to the dinner at your father's place but when the big talk came in, he politely told me that it would be better if he talked to your family by himself. You can imagine my surprise when someone as calm and composed as Kei-kun went out of the room nearly jumping out for joy, hugging people and thanking them for some inexplicable reason." Mikoto laughed as Kuroko just stood there, absolutely stupefied at the girls' revelations.

"So I guess this means that you haven't given him an answer yet?" Ruiko asked, obviously enjoying seeing Kuroko in such a state. "Don't leave the poor guy hanging and give him a straight up answer why don't you?"

"K-Kei..." Kuroko shook her head and coughed, trying to clear out the high pitch in her voice. "Keisuke has told me that he was in no rush." She said, regaining her composure. "We're still pretty young. All things considered, I'm still a newbie lawyer, and he just started getting used to handling the reins of his family's company. He said that we should both focus on our careers, with our future in mind. He just asked me the big question to serve as some kind of reminder."

"That he'd always be there for you, no matter how busy you get or how seldom you meet and that his feelings would never change?" Mikoto continued with a knowing look on her face. Kuroko looked stupefied once more but then she just shook her head, face palming. "You really shouldn't be surprised. Kei-kun is such an honest guy. If you ask him, he'd answer you with the truth straight up. He knew right from the very start that you wouldn't answer him right away so I told him that I could just zap you unconscious and place you somewhere on a stranded island and get you two hooked up and married but you wanna know what he said?"

"Not really." Kuroko answered. "I don't think I can handle-"

"It was a rhetorical question. I didn't need your answer." Mikoto said, rolling her eyes before continuing eagerly. "But anyway, he said that you'd probably want to take your time with all this. He said that since you'd been so obsessed over me in your younger years, and since not a single one of us in our group had a normal teenage life, he wanted you to enjoy your years as a young adult. He wanted you to build a name for yourself in your career, and strengthen your identity as a person. He didn't want to tie you down with marriage, he just wanted you to live your life on your own terms, doing things that make you feel fulfilled and happy. I'm just a friend of the person he was in love with but I was positively swooning when I heard him say that in the car." She finished, turning to see Kuroko who was once again red in the face, utterly embarrassed but completely blissful nonetheless.

"I probably would've questioned his sanity and ask him why he was dating Kuroko-san again." Ruiko commented with a light shrug, making all of them giggle like a bunch of school girls.

"But it really is amazing, isn't it?" Kazari muttered wistfully as she smiled at their small circle of friends. "To think that we all used to be just a bunch of middle schoolers hanging out after class and during weekends, getting into trouble every now and then. But now, look at us! Mikoto-san is a widely-known doctor, Ruiko became a grade school teacher, I became a computer engineer for Academy City, Kuroko-san is finally a lawyer and even though she hasn't technically answered him, she's engaged!"

"I'm actually surprised that Kuroko-san got over her obsession with Mikoto-san." Ruiko laughed, remembering all the duo's antics. "She was the weirdest out of all of us, but now she's the only one who actually has a love life?! Isn't that just weird?"

"Ah! But I always thought that Mikoto-san would be the first to get married though!" Kazari's small laughter was suddenly the only thing that was heard in the room. Kuroko and Ruiko knew where this was going, but she somehow didn't take the hint. "Remember when we were still in high school and Touma-niisan asked us for the best way to propose to Mikoto-san? That was..." Once the silence grew uncomfortable, Kazari suddenly realized her mistake and promptly shut her mouth. "I'm sorry." She mumbled lowly, lowering her head "I just got swept away by the nostalgia of things and well...I guess I said something I shouldn't have." No one spoke a word as Kazari nervously played with her thumbs, waiting for any kind of response.

"You know..." Mikoto said, finally breaking the thick, suffocating silence around them. "I know why Papa always gives me a week off before my birthday. The same way I know that you guys are planning something every year. I've been keeping count you know? You failed the last attempt, but this time, I came. I came because I wanted to tell you guys that I appreciate everything you've done for me, but really, nothing you do will ever make anything better. It would be best if you just focused on your own lives and stop trying to fix mine."

"Mikoto-neesama..." Kuroko called out as gently as she could. "You honestly can't expect us to leave you to your own devices for this...this hell week!" She sputtered out bitterly.

"Hell week huh?" Mikoto repeated her words, her voice full of hurt tinged with light amusement. "That's awfully fitting for the week that I lost so many things."

 _It all happened a week before my 25_ _th_ _birthday. During that week, I was so overcome with grief, I thought I'd never recover from again._

 _It was the week that I lost all 9,969 of my Sisters. And the week that I lost the one who pulled me through majority of my struggles._

 _The week that I lost Kamijou Touma._

 _-_ chapter end-

 **If you managed to get this far, then congratulations! Truth be told, this was supposed to be just a one shot but it was too damn long, so I decided to cut it up.**

 **[1] This was actually based off something I read online somewhere, though I can't remember where. I'm pretty sure that the original text was far more eloquent than this, and I'm pretty sure I worded it differently, but I just wanted to be sure that I won't get sued for anything. I just used the main idea that some people really just come into our lives for a purpose and that they'll leave us once they've achieved that. The key points were 'strangers', 'owning', and 'purpose'. To whoever wrote that piece I read and based off these lines from, all credit is given to you and I deserve none of it. I think it was a post from an art group on FB? Though I'm not really sure.**

 **Welp? It's been a long time since I wrote anything. How'd I do? Tell me what you think about this okay? I honestly think I've been reading way too much fanfiction recently (especially CCS fics) but hell yeah!**

 **Thanks so much! Till next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

**The only reason why I was able to update so soon? READINGS THAT ARE PILING UP. BUT BEING THE LAZY ASS THAT I AM, MY BRAIN REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR EXISTENCE. Don't be like me. Study hard, stay in school kids. I'm still a kid though too.**

 **Yeah, I know. What the hell am I doing? Updating this fic when I haven't even updated FYF:AR since forever. Funny how I'm so eager to get this story together while FYF:AR is still at a standstill. Anyway, thank you to all those who reviewed/faved/followed this story! I originally planned this to be a one shot, but then it became a three-shot, and now I honestly don't know how this is gonna end up, so I'm just gonna stop making promises here. I don't know how long this story will run, since it depends mostly on my mood (I am so sorry) and my availability (since I still have school). If writing fanfiction was an actual job, I would've been fired already! Haha.**

 **By the way, there are a lot of concepts in this story that I'm not really sure are possible in real life. Like finishing a degree in two years and such. Please just keep in mind that this is fiction and hey, they are in Academy City of all freaking places so let's just say that a lot of things are possible in their world okay? Lol**

 **And regarding some of the questions stated in the reviews, I hope that this chapter will be able to answer some of them! I probably forgot to say this in the first chapter, but again, I still don't proof read any of my works, so if there are any errors, then haha shame on me. Bear with me okay? Well, anyway, here's chapter 2 of Stay!**

Stay

Chapter 2

"Mikoto-neesama..." Kuroko called out as gently as she could. "You honestly can't expect us to leave you to your own devices for this...this hell week!" She sputtered out bitterly.

"Hell week huh?" Mikoto repeated her words, her voice full of hurt tinged with light amusement. "That's awfully fitting for the week that I lost so many things."

All three women were brought to a silence by the hazel-haired beauty as time seemingly froze inside the once cheerful penthouse. Mikoto looked over to all her friends, seeing the desolate looks on each of them before sighing and standing up. She stretched her hands upward, before placing them on her waist, beaming up at the girls.

"So?"She asked, letting out another breath, one that she hadn't known she was keeping. "I'm guessing we're all staying in your room then Kuroko? God knows how spacious that bedroom of yours is." Mikoto walked over to the duffel bag she threw onto the floor earlier, picking it up and slinging it over her shoulder. "If you ladies would excuse me, I'm just gonna drop this off real quick in our campsite." She joked, turning away from them and walking towards the hallway which led to the bedroom.

"Onee-sama." The owner of the said room called out grimly, seriousness emanating from her voice. "Please don't turn away from this like it isn't a problem." Mikoto stopped momentarily, pausing for a while before turning around and facing her, a nonchalant look on her face.

"Oh? So we're back to Onee-sama again? What happened to calling me Mikoto-neesama?" She chided.

"It's like I told you earlier, Mikoto-san." Ruiko piped up, looking at her from her seat on the couch. "You don't have to keep up this facade of yours. We're all adults now, you don't have to be so careful around us. We're your friends-"

"I don't want this to become a topic of discussion between us, Ruiko." Mikoto turned around and continued walking towards the bedroom.

"How can it not be a topic of discussion between us?" Kuroko asked out loud, loud enough so Mikoto could hear her despite the distance. "You haven't been the same ever since two years ago, Onee-sama! Of course we'll be worried about you! You haven't talked about it to anyone in two years!"

"And I'd like to keep it that way." Mikoto shouted back. Ruiko was about to stand up and walk over to the bedroom until Kazari, who had been quiet all throughout the exchange, finally spoke up, her tone rising a few octaves.

"You can't do that!" She gripped the edge of her flowy teal-colored blouse as she stared at the bedroom door. "Mikoto-san, you're our friend! You can talk to us, you know that! Why won't you open up? We never had this kind of problem with you that lasted this long before! Why won't you tell us anything?! After everything we've been through together, is there a single thing in this world that you'd be hesitant to tell us about?" Kazari shouted, desperation and frustration dripping from her tone. "We've been in so many life-threatening situations before, but even then, we had each other's backs and we trusted one another! What's so different now?"

Ruiko and Kuroko could only stare at Kazari's outburst, both waiting for Mikoto's reply. Kazari was never one to explode like that. She had always been the calm, collected one in the group, but certain situations did call for desperate measures. Small shuffling sounds could be heard as Mikoto re-emerged from the bedroom, leaning her body on the door frame.

"What do you want me to say exactly, Kazari?" Mikoto asked softly. "Do you want me to cry about it? Maybe ask you guys for a night out so I could drink all my sorrows away? Do you want me to, I don't know, bare myself open to you guys? Let my feelings be known to the world?"

"That's now what she meant and you know that, Mikoto-san!" Ruiko shot back as Kazari seemingly stiffened, taken aback by Mikoto's harsh response. She took a deep breath to calm herself down before looking over at Mikoto, facing her eye to eye. "We've been friends for about 13 years. I know that time isn't really a measure, but surely by now, you should trust us enough to share your feelings with us, even if it's just a little bit. It's been two years-"

"Exactly." Mikoto interrupted. "It has been years. Things change, and it just so happened that I, myself, changed. I'm sorry if I'm no longer the Misaka Mikoto you befriended and knew all those years ago, but shit happens to everyone. I've lost my memories, I've stopped being human, I disappeared from this world-in the thirteen years that we spent together, a lot happened." That made the three younger girls shut up. Mikoto hated playing the pity card, but really, what else could she have used?

"It's not like everything was a bad memory now, was it?" Kazari said, making Mikoto look to her. "We got you back didn't we? We managed to live peaceful lives for awhile, despite all of those bad things, didn't we? We managed to get through them together. Did the bad things really outweigh the good ones?" She asked pleadingly.

"Normally, I would say that all the pain was well worth it because of the happiness I felt with everyone I loved, but in that week two years ago?" Mikoto recounted, a despondent smile on her face, "Nothing, and I mean no amount of happiness could ever compensate for the pain that I felt. Girls, I understand that you're all worried about me, really. But can't you let me off the hook, just this once? I lost all of my Sisters. For three days," She released a shaky breath as she ran her hands through her hair. "For three dreadful days, I witnessed each and every death of the 9, 968 Sisters that I thought I'd finally saved. I thought they were finally safe!" She emphasized. "I thought that since the project was finally out of commission, they'd be free to live their lives, but I was dead wrong. The project wasn't the only thing that hindered them from living to the fullest. Their bodies were slowly giving out, and I never even knew about it. I couldn't _save t_ hem after all."

"They all decided that it would've been for the best." Kuroko tried taking out the shakiness in her voice as she spoke. "There was nothing you could have done. There was nothing _anyone_ in this entire world could have done. The Sisters knew that, Onee-sama. They did live out their lives to the fullest. Each and every one of them. You did save them You got them out of that ridiculous project and gave them another chance at life. Don't deny yourself of that, Mikoto-neesama."

"Last Order-chan did her very best to hold out longer than anyone else did. She struggled to stay alive a few days more than everyone else." Ruiko added. "She wanted to be there to comfort you and relay to you the will of everyone else."

"Yeah..." Mikoto chuckled, amusement completely devoid from the hollow sound. "Seeing her go was probably the hardest, most heartbreaking thing I ever had to experience."

"You can't keep blaming yourself for something that you didn't know and was inevitable, Mikoto-san." Kazari stood up as well, turning to Mikoto. "The Sisters all went satisfied. They loved you. They wouldn't want you to beat yourself up over their deaths like this."

"Easier said than done, really." Mikoto sighed before walking over to the three of them and enveloping them in one huge hug. "I'm sorry if I've been such a jerk to you guys on numerous occasions." She whispered into the hug, surprising the three. "I know that it hasn't been easy for you guys either, having to deal with the deaths, then having to deal with me. I think I've been doing better, ever since I came to terms that they really were gone, but I can't just get over this that easily. I know that two years is a pretty long time, but hey, mourning and nursing a broken heart all at once isn't an easy task you know?" She laughed to herself, hugging them tighter. Even with their faces squashed together as they were, the three still managed to sneak in a curious glance at one another.

"Mikoto-neesama?" Kuroko asked, craning her head so she could make eye contact with the older girl. "What did happen with you and that Touma-senpai anyway?" Mikoto simply let go of all three of them, her face looking evidently brighter despite her sadness.

"You're not gonna call him a barbaric ape like you used to?" She asked, honest humor in her voice.

"All of us bore witness to what the two of you had Mikoto-neesama." Kuroko said plainly. "He loved you with every once of his being. He would do anything for you."

"Touma-nii's love for you is something that no one could ever deny." Ruiko smiled at Mikoto. "Not even Kuroko-san could say otherwise."

"That's why we find it all weird." Kazari chipped in, her hands playing with themselves as she held them in front of her chest. "That he would just...go like that. And you never talked about it. We hadn't seen you cry ever since the Sisters' death. Sometimes it feels like you've completely come to terms with it, but other times it feels like you're just as lost as we all are."

"Heeeh~" Mikoto dragged out, feeling a bit lighter after hearing them speak. "So my tragic love life has been some kind of mystery puzzle to you guys then?" The girls lowered their head in shame, as Mikoto smiled fondly at them. "But I do appreciate that you guys hadn't spoken to me about it over the past two years. I probably would've just blown things out of proportion and made things harder for all of us. I just wasn't...ready, I guess."

"So the bastard really did say something to you?!" Kuroko suddenly shouted, making Mikoto laugh.

"And you just said that you had faith that he loved me?"

"Acknowledging that he has strong feelings for you and simply accepting the fact that he hurt you are two very different things, Mikoto-neesama." Kuroko huffed, crossing her arms. "And though I must admit that I've been out of practice, my aim and teleportation skills haven't really gone rusty, as long as I'm given the right target."

"Leaving aside Kuroko-san's death threats," Ruiko intruded, pushing Kuroko slightly out of the way, she turned her attention back to Mikoto, trying not to look like a curious housewife excited to hear the latest gossip. "Is it alright if we asked you about what happened between you and Touma-nii now?"

"It's fine by me, but this might take a while you know? Would you guys really want to spend our one girl's night out just simply talking about what happened between us?"

"It's been hanging over our heads like the plague since it happened!" Ruiko exaggerated, throwing her hands up in the air. "Really, Mikoto-san. Nothing else would make us happier other than you kindly telling us what happened. You also really need to get something as heavy as that off your chest."

"Trust me, Ruiko, talking about my Sisters' death has already taken a lot off heaviness from my chest." She tried to joke, but the girls just stared at her with small smiles. She sighed before letting herself fall back on one of the black comfy single seaters. "I managed to store up two years worth of anguish so this might take a while."

Kuroko, Kazari and Ruiko just looked at one another before they ran back to their original positions, with Kuroko moving her furniture closer so that they'd form a small circle in the middle of her penthouse's wide living room.

"Well I guess I should start with the week before it all began..."

* * *

19th of April, 6:50 am

*Bzzt*Bzzt*Bzzt*

"Ugh..." The 24 year old Misaka Mikoto grunted as she blindly tried to capture the source of the incessant buzzing that was disrupting her pleasant sleep. Try as she might, she just couldn't seem to get where her phone was. "Ugh, stupid, freaking mornings..." she grumbled to herself as she peeled one of her eyes open, finally finding her green frog phone right under her pillow. "Hello?" She answered grumpily, not caring to see who the hell was calling her so early in the morning.

"Well you're just a ray of sunshine in the morning aren't you?" A mocking (yet oddly gentle) voice called out from the other side of the call.

"I absolutely have no time for your shit, you idiot." She spat bitterly, rolling over so she could lie flat on her back. "I was up just until a few hours ago reading up on some materials for my interview. I haven't slept properly in months, I haven't eaten breakfast yet and here you are bothering my precious sleep, Kamijou Touma."

"I love you too, BiriBiri." He laughed as a few rustling noises could be heard in the background followed by a small click. Years after years of being together, Mikoto had finally given up on getting him to stop calling her BiriBiri. Oddly enough, despite her protests, she finds it rather sweet of him, calling her by the same nickname ever since they met. "This is why I told you that you should've just stayed in the dorms with Kuroko until everything got settled. I'm showing myself in alright? Are you presentable?"

"Hardly." She grunted, slamming her phone shut. She could hear soft pattering footsteps walking around for a few seconds before it went towards her room. She heard the small creak of her bedroom door and felt one side of the bed dip from his weight.

"Good morning to you too." Touma greeted with a smile as laid down next to her and gave her a hug. Mikoto showed no sign of protest as she just let herself fall into his embrace, humming slightly. "As much as I love staying like this, you're gonna be late. It's 6:55, you have an important interview at 7:30 right?"

"Ah, shit." She cursed, jumping out of the bed and running to the bathroom. Touma only sighed and shook his head as he stood up as well and walked towards her cabinet to pick out her clothes for the day. Settling for a powder blue blouse, paired with a gray cardigan and white capris, he placed the outfit on her bed and walked out of her room, closing the door behind him. "Thanks Touma!" He heard her muffled voice call out from her bedroom's private bathroom.

He only smiled to himself as he walked towards her kitchen, taking out the food that he had prepared beforehand and placed them inside her refrigerator. He took out two tupperwares containing sandwiches from the bag he brought along and placed them on the table. Touma then turned back to the refrigerator and took out a carton of orange juice, pouring it into Mikoto's favorite limited edition Gekota cup.

"You are a life saver you know that?" Mikoto's voice suddenly said, appearing from behind her bedroom door, dressed in the outfit he had picked out. "How do you even know what looks good with what?" She questioned, her pride as a woman slightly damaged, knowing that her boyfriend may have more fashion sense than she did.

"I only have to know what looks good on you."He shrugged, handing her one of the tupperwares of sandwiches. "Go on and eat up. You are not leaving this house on an empty stomach, Misaka Mikoto." She simply smiled at him and ate her sandwiches as he fiddled with the other containers that he brought over. "Your appointment might run until 12:30 right? I might not have lunch with you, so I'm just leaving some food here and you can heat it up. I'll come over later and we can cook dinner together, does that sound good?"

"Heavenly." Mikoto answered as she downed the sandwich with the help of the glass of orange juice. "Sorry to make you do this almost every morning, Touma. I know you've been busy with work, are you sure you're not pushing yourself too much? I appreciate all of this, really, but..."

"Hey," he called out, walking over to her chair and grasping her face with both of his hands, making her look up to him. "I'm doing this because I want to, alright? Finishing a doctorate degree in two years is a miraculous feat that not everyone can pull off. Doing mundane tasks like these is the least this poor old Kamijou Touma could do for you."

"Trust me, you're probably the reason why I'm not yet in the hospital for appendicitis or ulcer." Mikoto muttered, grasping his hands that held her face as she closed her eyes and took a breath. She felt Touma's lips press against her forehead before he let go of her.

"You know that I love you but I do hope that you realize that you're running late, BiriBiri." Touma snickered, seeing the panic rise in Mikoto's eyes before she floundered about, grabbing her bag with her materials which she had thankfully prepared before she fell asleep. "Here, take this with you and eat it when you can, you only have half a day but you're gonna need all the energy you can get." He said, placing the other tupperware filled with sandwiches in her bag. "Wear the white strappy woven sandals that Misuzu-san gave you last Christmas."

Touma watched Mikoto run off to the front floor, rummaging through her shoe cabinet in order to find his choice of footwear for the day. Once they were safely strapped to her feet, she stood up and ran back to Touma, giving him a hug.

"Thank you so much for everything."

"Just be careful on your way, alright?" He said, giving her one last squeeze before she sprang towards the door of her large apartment. Shouting her goodbye, she glanced at him once more before she ran off again, in hopes of not being late.

Running through the busy streets of Academy City had somehow become a frequent occurrence in the recent years of her life. Ever since she had decided to take up medicine and pursue her previous goal of actually helping children with Muscular Dystrophy, (minus the deception, the DNA and the cloning), her life had been hectic. She did her best to shorten her studying years, attending classes from seven in the morning to eight in the evening, overloading semester after semester, even going so far as to take up summer courses. With her brilliant mind and unparalleled dedication, paired with months after months of sleepless nights and endless flow of caffeine in her veins, she managed to complete her doctoral degree along with her specialization in two years, having graduated only last March.

' _I can't screw this up...'_ She thought to herself as she turned a corner, running towards the vast entrance gates of the newly established medical facility specializing in the treatment of diseases that currently had no cure as of yet. "Everyone else has been supporting me these past two years, I can't fail now."

Taking a deep breath as she entered the main lobby of the facility, she walked towards the receptionist, who was a plump, motherly-looking lady and was probably in her mid 40's.

"Here for an interview, sweetie?" The lady asked, a smile on her face. Mikoto returned the smile as best she could, trying to fix her wind blown hair.

"Yes. I'm not late am I?" She looked up to the huge analog clock and saw the time. 7:29 am.

"You're safe by a hair's breadth, but safe nonetheless, dear." She answered, picking up the phone and pressing a few numbers. "Tanaka-sensei, your 7:30 is here." She paused for a second, listening to Tanaka's answer. "No, no. Not a patient sir, an interviewee. And before you ask, no she is not late." She gave a wink to Mikoto who just smiled back. "Alright then, I'll send her up." She said, dropping the call.

"I'm not going to be fired before I even get a chance, right?" Mikoto asked sheepishly. "I swear I won't be late anymore. This is just a one time thing." _Hopefully_ , she thought dreadfully to herself.

"Nonsense, dearie." The receptionist laughed waving her off. "I would've chucked Tanaka-sensei's behind for not giving such a sweet girl like you a chance. Hoping to specialize in MD I take it? Tanaka-sensei was saying that he had an MD patient at 7:30. He often mixes up appointments and patient consultations."

"I have my reasons..."

"Don't we all." The kind lady smiled. "Now, hurry up and be off. He's in his office on the fourth floor. It has this big gold colored plaque on it, so I'm sure you wouldn't miss it."

"Oh thank you so much...uhm..."

"Miyabi Miho, but feel free to call me by my name." Miho, the kind receptionist lady, said handing her some kind of identification card. "I'm pretty sure we'll be working around each other for a while, so might as well get used to me, dearie."

"Thank you, Miho-san." Mikoto smiled kindly, taking the card with the red lanyard and wearing it. "I guess I'll be off then."

"Good luck sweetie, I know you'll do great!" Miho bade with a wave as Mikoto got into the elevator.

Okay, Mikoto. You can do this.

* * *

Okay, Mikoto. Maybe you can't do this.

Tanaka-sensei was worse than a woman on her period with raging hormones.

"I hope you realize that your background really isn't as credible as you might think it to be." Tanaka-sensei, a 30 something guy with messy curly black hair, overgrown stubble and black rimmed glasses said, leaning back on his chair, reading through her papers almost lazily. "Says here you attended Tokiwadai Middle School, but you were involved in multiple cases with Judgment and Anti-Skill. What kind of some-teen year old ojou-sama would get involved with multiple cases with the peace-keeping forces of Academy City?" He asked, eyeing her precariously, making Mikoto gulp.

"My roommate and underclassman was a member of Judgment." Mikoto tried to answer with a smile. "I tried to help her out as much as I could-"

"Ah." Tanaka-sensei nodded. "So you're a busy-body then?" Mikoto's eye twitched. "Contrary to common belief, as a medical professional, being a busy body isn't actually the way to go."

' _Have I mentioned that he was irritatingly sarcastic?'_ Mikoto thought to herself. "I wouldn't say-"

"Involved in cases that resulted in multiple injuries, destruction of _public_ property, trespassing, destruction of _private_ property-"

"All for very good reasons! I assure you!"

"Despite having good grades, seems like you weren't really the scholarly kind huh? Skipping classes for days without prior notice." _Because I was involved in cases! Though I don't really remember them much! "_ You got hospitalized quite often during your late middle school years and early high school years. _" After effects of the First Angel Incident. Again. Not really my fault. "_ And then you suddenly transferred in your 2nd year of high school to some prissy posh school in England, but only stayed there for 10 months."

"Academy City had called me back!" Mikoto answered out loud this time. "I was only following orders-"

"A busy-body and a loyal puppy then?" Tanaka-sensei questioned. A vein popped in Mikoto's head. ' _Can I hit him? Just one hit. Can I please just hit him_?' Opting not to say anymore, Mikoto quietly listened to Tanaka's judgment of her character.

"After skipping out on school, _again_..." He purposely dragged out the last word, shooting her a look. "You were suddenly sent off on some medical mission wherein any further information is classified. So what? Am I supposed to believe you were off doing charity work for nearly four years without even bothering to file for completion of your high school education?"

"Academy City's Director General himself had declared that." She answered, her hands tightening into fists.

"Yup. Double checking the loyal puppy part."

' _Good Lord, someone better save this man's damned soul or I am going to punch a Railgun right through him and send him to hell.'_

"And so after returning from your so called medical mission, what exactly did you do before entering school?"

"Yes, I know. I was involved with Judgment cases _again_. Hospitalized _again_. I was in hospice care for a while before I got the approval to stay at home and rest. " Mikoto said almost mockingly. "I was resting for almost a year, until I finally decided to pick up on my education and managed to get through med school and undergo my specialization in two years, which by the way, I graduated last March. And now here I am."

"Says here you're turning 25 in two weeks time." Tanaka said nonchalantly as he turned his swivel arm chair side to side. "And that you're the third strongest Level Five ESPer, known as the Railgun."

"For a while, I was promoted to first place, but we all went back to our original places when I left for my medical mission." Mikoto crossed her arms over her chest. This man had completely judged her character. She just knew it.

"Quite the exciting history you've got here." He said, flipping through the pages. "Not exactly credible, but quite exciting. I wouldn't think you were an ojou-sama, if not for the pretty names of the schools you went through."

"I'm quite aware of the lack of stability that my past shows but-"

"You can start coming in as my assistant next week. I'll let you loose around here after a month of working under me."

"-I promise you that I'm not really...wait, what?" Mikoto asked incredulously, rising from her chair. "What did you just say?"

"What? It's not like I can just set you on my patients like some kind of rabid dog?" He answered, dropping her papers on his desk, stretching his arms out. "I need to see how well trained you are first. But seeing as you studied under Heaven Canceler and Heaven Arbiter, you must have some considerable level of skill."

"Pardon me if I'm sounding rude...but..." Mikoto paused for a while, looking at Tanaka. "Are you implying that I'm...hired?"

"I sure am." He said, standing up and gathering her papers before placing it neatly into a file. "Special treatment or not, I still would've hired you simply based on your credentials regarding your profession."

"Even if I'm a loyal puppy and a busy-body?" Mikoto asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not denying that your fiery spunk did play a little role, but I've taken a liking to you. In a professional sense, of course. "

"And you've been insulting me for the past two hours why exactly?"

"If we're gonna be working in the same environment, I need to at least be familiar with you in some sense. Just think of it as my 'getting to know you' welcoming gift." He picked up her folder and walked towards the door, tapping her lightly on the head with the folder, urging her to follow him. "As I said, if possible, I want you to start coming in next week. Though you'll only act as my assistant, I will let you handle as many cases as you can, with and without my supervision. I'm not about to become your baby sitter and spoon feed you anything."

"I wouldn't want to." She scoffed. "You're only what? Five years older than me or something?"

"As flattered as I am, Miss Misaka, as of your birthday in two weeks, I will be 12 years your senior." Tanaka smirked, seeing the look of shock register on Mikoto's face. "Yes, yes. This handsome face of mine is 37 years old. Sorry to disappoint you but I'm actually married, and I have a beautiful daughter."

"The implications of your previous statement makes me want to vomit." Mikoto mumbled lowly.

"Since we're on the topic of vomiting, what are the symptoms of vomiting?"

"Nausea, headaches, salivation, gagging and stomach churning, among many others of course." Mikoto answered smugly as Tanaka gave an approving nod. "Wait, now that I think about it, what did you mean when you said something about special treatment?"

Tanaka stopped walking and turned to smile at the younger girl before him. He tapped the golden plaque at the room that they were standing in front of and her eyes widened with what she saw.

"You're not as smart as I thought you to be, Miss Misaka Mikoto." He laughed, seeing her reaction.

 **Misaka Tabigake**

 **Director/Company President**

* * *

"You knew about it, didn't you?" Mikoto asked as she watched the pasta sauce sizzle in the pan, stirring it around every few seconds or so. "I can't believe I never figured it out. Or even simply guessed it."

"I don't see anything wrong with it though?" Came Touma's voice from her phone which was on the kitchen island. "Tabigake-san specifically told Tanaka-sensei to judge you for your capabilities and credentials. Not because you were his daughter."

"My father is my boss now, Touma." Mikoto muttered, turning of the heat and pouring the delicious smelling sauce over her pasta. "He's the director of the facility and the president of the company that provides the biggest funding for research."

"I'm sure Tabigake-san just wants to help all those people suffering from incurable diseases, just like you are, BiriBiri."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better how exactly?" She replied sarcastically, slumping down on her seat on her breakfast nook, shoving a forkful of pasta into her mouth. "Damn it. I should be mad at you right now, but your pasta is so freaking divine it's distracting me."

"Then I'm glad that my cooking has saved me from my girlfriend's wrath." Touma's laugh echoed from the speakers. "But seriously though, there really is nothing wrong with your father being your boss. It's not so bad."

"And this is coming from the guy who used to complain night and day about how annoying it is having your father for a boss." She snorted. "Touya-san isn't even directly your boss. But mine is."

"Hey now, that was just in the beginning! And it's not like Tabigake-san is going to dote on you, dropping by your office every hour giving you weird charms for good luck and whatnot!"

"The weird charms?" Mikoto laughed as she ate another mouthful of pasta. "Yeah, probably not. But I'm pretty sure he's going to find a way to dote on me, one way or the other. Anyway, is it really okay for you to be talking to me like this? Aren't I interrupting your work or something?"

"No, it's fine. I'm on my break anyways."

"On your break?" Mikoto questioned, picking up her phone and checking the time. "Kamijou Touma. It's 2:02 pm. How the hell are you on break?"

"I may have adjusted my schedule a bit." He answered sheepishly. "It's nothing too great really. I just worked while everyone was on their lunch break and took some time off when you called."

"Are you even allowed to do that? Don't tell me you're abusing Touya-san's influence!"

"I'm not, relax, BiriBiri." He said in a calming voice. There was a bit of pause, with Mikoto focusing more on her pasta than the conversation. "So? How do you feel about your new job then? Misaka-sensei?"

"That has an incredibly nice ring to it." Mikoto mused as she placed her used utensils in the sink. "But it's amazing, really. Knowing that I can finally do something right for those kids."

"Mikoto, I've said this countless of times before, but it's not your fault. You were just a kid yourself."

"That's not exactly an excuse, Touma. But it's fine. I'm fine." She leaned back onto the counter, staring at a picture that was framed on the wall on the far end of her apartment space. "I'm taking baby steps, but I'm going to make it, I swear I will." Touma could only sigh as he paused for a bit, looking at his watch.

"We should continue this conversation later. " He said plainly. "Dinner is still a go right? Kuroko and the other girls haven't made plans with you yet?"

"Even if they asked, I'd decline and ask them to move it on a different day. Are we going to have dinner here? Or at your place?"

"I'd very much prefer it if we had it at your place. Your kitchen is heaven to a normal person like me. I think I can get out at around four, what will you be doing until then?"

"I'm probably gonna take a nap for about an hour." Mikoto yawned as she moved towards her bedroom. "I still have a few papers to finish, but Tanaka wiped me dry. I'll just set an alarm or something."

"Do you think it's gonna wake you up though? You haven't been sleeping properly for a long time. You might be more tired than you think you are."

"You know, I still find it absolutely hilarious that our roles have been reversed." She smiled as she laid down on her bed, still wearing the blue top, minus the cardigan, as she wore a pair of loose, white sleep shorts. "I was the one who had my life in order back then. Never being late, always prepared for most things. I always had to remind you of a lot of stuff. I even had to tutor you on numerous occasions." Mikoto's voice slowly grew softer, as if falling into a slumber.

"Yeah well, the only good thing that came out of being in the work force is the lack of academics." Touma joked, somehow sensing her sleepiness. "I'm kinda glad things turned around like this though. At least now, I get to take care of you as much as I want. And you'd be too tired to complain about anything. You're like a cute little kid."

"You are such an asshole sometimes, you know?" She mumbled sleepily.

"I know I am." Touma's voice sounded so soothing, it really was pushing Mikoto's consciousness over the edge. "Go to sleep, BiriBiri. I'll take care of everything else, just go ahead and rest."

And rest she did, as the last thing she could remember was his warm, relaxing voice mumbling words she could no longer understand as her consciousness faded.

-chapter end-

 **Okay, so really, the only reason why Touma is a normal office employee from an undisclosed company is simply because I don't see him doing anything specific in the future. I just figured that since maybe his dad is in the business, he might go for it as well, or something. And I'm pretty sure that I read a fic about Mikoto being a doctor focusing on MD somewhere before. Really, I couldn't imagine her doing anything else except that. So it just kinda stuck on me.**

 **Well apparently, I used some details from FYF and incorporated it into this story. If you hadn't read it before then it might not make much sense to you, so really sorry about that lol. I didn't really plan for this to be directly related to the FYF series, but somehow, it just turned out like this. I'd Rather is probably the only thing that I wrote for the ToAru fandom which isn't related to FYF lol. I don't get why I'm so attached to the series though.**

 **Anyway, thanks again for reading this! Please leave a review if you will! Until next time!**


	3. Notes

This isn't chapter really an update, but the next one is. It's like a really long Author's Notes made up of my personal thoughts and questions about the To Aru series. This was supposed to be the AN for chapter 3, but it ended up way too long, so I decided to put it up separately. If you have the time, could you please bother with my thoughts? Thanks! If not, then please proceed to the next chapter. I was having a hard time trying to remember past events in TAMNI that was related to the story because it's been about 5 years since I've last watched it. And so, I spent my entire weekend avoiding school work and watching every single episode. (Really guys, study hard. Don't be me)

Okay, so I ended up watching the entire To Aru series over the weekend (Both seasons of TAMNI and TAKNR. Imagine it. 96 episodes which adds up to about 38 hours wow weekends are laifu) and a lot of facts that I've forgotten before all resurfaced. So first, in TAMNI, Misaka 10032 actually told Touma that their bodies needed adjustments when she came for a late night, or maybe early morning visit at the hospital right after the fight with Accelerator. But when Touma asked "Will that save you?" Imouto didn't reply. When Mikoto came to visit Touma later in the morning, it was _implied_ (yes, implied. It wasn't explicitly said) that he relayed to Mikoto the things Imouto had told him, with Mikoto simply saying "Is that so?". I'm pretty sure that Mikoto understood that the Sister's lives would've been greatly shortened, but canonically speaking, I'm not sure about Touma. During their date to avoid the Aztec magician who was using Unabara Mitsuki's skin (can these people get any weirder?), it was Mikoto who then told Touma that only about 10 sisters remained in Academy City while the rest were sent to outside facilities for adjustments. I totally, completely forgot about this. I figured that Mikoto would figure it out at some point in the future but I forgot that she actually already knew.

But in TAKNR S, it was Heaven Canceler who told Mikoto about the problem with the somatic cell division of the sisters. He told her that they only had a year or two left to live, but with the adjustments that they were planning on doing, then they could get back a good chunk of their life span. If the sequence goes like this:

(Touma telling Mikoto [Around August 22, if I'm not mistaken])

(Frog Face telling Mikoto [Unknown date since this was probably just a filler scene to make the flow between the Sisters Arc and the Silent Party Arc smoother. But if I had to guess it would be around August 23 or 24? Or 25? I have no idea really])

(The whole deal with the fake Unabara Mitsuki [August 31, I think])

Then I guess it would make sense. The animation has discrepancies though, because in both TAKNR S and TAMNI, Mikoto was shocked to hear about her Sisters' life span. And 10032 and Touma were a whole lot bloodier in TAKNR S than in TAMNI. That's why I can't pinpoint the date when Frog Face talked to Mikoto. Since 10032 was still heavily bandaged and bed ridden in TAKNR S, but she was just fine in TAMNI.

I even forgot the fact that Kuroko knows a bit about the experiment (she probably doesn't know the exact details of it, but knowing her she probably knows a lot more than she lets on) because of her fight with Musujime Awaki over the Remnant (literally the remains of the Tree Diagram). Damn. I'm pretty sure I didn't take these facts into consideration when I wrote the latter parts of the FYF series. As much as I'd like to make the events of this fic stick to the canon story line as much as possible, I only rewatched the entire series this February 2017. I wrote FYF around 4 years ago, a year after I watched TAMNI (both seasons) and TAKNR. TAKNR S was still on going by the time I was writing FYF: Again, I think. All things considered, if I really did want to make this parallel to the canon universe, I'd have to read the entire TAMNI light novel series and lord help me, as much as I would have wanted to, I simply cannot. That's 17 volumes of New Testament, a bunch of special volumes, and I forgot how many volumes the original LN series had. What _**did**_ we call the series of volumes that came before the New Testament? Was it the Old Testament, or did I just make that up in my head? I did read them a few years ago but I didn't (never will) have perfect photographic memory like Index, so I sure as hell couldn't remember everything that happened, especially since I had a lot of stuff to deal with before.

And holy hell, how come I didn't remember that GROUP was shown to be created at the end of TAMNI II? And the time when Unabara told the guys from GROUP that a certain person had been doing a great job of protecting the world around someone he cared about? Why the hell do I feel like that it was the first time I've watched that when I'm sure that it wasn't?

Since we're already on the topic of remembering details, can you guys help me by answering a few of my questions?

When did Mikoto find out about Touma's amnesia again? Was it the fight with Acqua of the Back? Or Fiamma? (It was Acqua right?) I think remember a scene where Mikoto was standing under a lamp post and Touma, who had just escaped after being freshly hospitalized, was about to go off and fight either Acqua or Fiamma (My brain is screaming Acqua). Mikoto confronted him about fighting while still heavily injured and then she decided to pull a big one out on him by asking him about his memory loss. Was it Acqua that told her? I can't remember much, but I do remember the illustration for this scene. Was this in the old series? It was the old series, right?

What were they doing in Baggage (does this place even exist in the TAMNI universe?) City again? This was one of the many adventures where Touma left Mikoto right?

They went to Russia, right? It's either I'm right or my European studies class has messed with my brain. I think they went to Hawaii too, but all I can remember about that is the funny president guy.

Did Touma ever canonically meet Misaka Tabigake? I don't think he did? (Step up your parenting gig, Tabigake-san. In the LN, your daughter is suffering some major mental and physical stress)

What the hell is going to happen to Accelerator when the Sisters die? Since he got shot in the head by that Ao guy (I forgot his last name) and his frontal lobe was damaged, Heaven Canceler hooked him up to the Network so he could use their computation ability along with language comprehension skills right? Or did he fully recover somewhere along the way and I just forgot? I think he regained some of his computation abilities when he released the true form of his powers but would it be enough?

When Touma defeated Etzali (that's the fake Unabara's name, right) and Etzali made Touma promise that he would protect Mikoto, WHAT THE HELL DID TOUMA SAY EXACTLY? I know he agreed to protect her, but what were his exact words? Does anyone know how to lip read? My best bet is him saying something like "Of course I will" which is "Attari mae darou" in Japanese. Pardon my romanji, I never formally studied the language. I'm just basing this off my knowledge of the language from watching subs haha.

I just realized this right after I finished TAKNR S, since Janie and Febri (Are they named after January and February or something?) are chemicaloids who need to undergo adjustment, wouldn't that mean that they're gonna die even younger than the sisters? I'm no expert on Science, but the Sister's were based off Mikoto's DNA, but Janie and Febri are made from chemicals right? I don't even know what I'm saying. This is a filler arc anyway, so I don't think this should affect the story much. (Janie and Febri are cute though)

Has Alesteir Crowley's past been mentioned anywhere at all? All I know is that he's the Director General of Academy City, he built the City, he's a scientist who lives in a liquid filled test tube in a windowless building, he was Heaven Canceler's patient (it must've been a pretty serious injury/problem not sure which) and he can be creepy as hell.

What is the origin of the Imagine Breaker anyway? Why does Touma have it? I mean, I know that if he dies, then the ability gets transferred to someone else but why does it even exist? Was this properly stated in the LN or did I just forget?

Did anyone else notice how they used all the openings of the TAKNR franchise (Only my Railgun, Level 5 Judgelight, Sister's Noise, Eternal Reality) on episode 24 of TAKNR S? Is that supposed to mean something? like a final farewell?

Oh god no. Are they gonna stop animating TAKNR? I want to see the Level 6-shift undergoing-Mikoto moving!

This is getting way too long now, I guess. Well, if you made it this far into my rants, then thank you so much for sparing my thoughts some of your time. Mind helping me out with my questions? Thanks a lot guys! The next chapter is the real chapter 3!


	4. Chapter 3

**If you paid attention and replied to the questions from my previous notes, then thank you very much! I hope this chapter will be good enough for you!**

Chapter 3

She couldn't remember what it was exactly, but she knew that she had been dreaming. The events of her dream were hazy, almost unrecognizable, but she could somehow piece together an image of Touma embracing her as she cried atop of some building. He was whispering words of reassurance into her ears, but they weren't reaching her at all. Tears kept coming, one after the other, soaking his shirt, as he could do nothing more than simply rock her back and forth, embracing her with all he had and whispering words which she had known to be lies. The pain and the sorrow she felt all seemed so real, until she felt a voice call her back to reality.

"BiriBiri?" Came Touma's voice. "Hey, BiriBiri, wake up."

Mikoto opened her eyes slowly, prepared to be blinded by the light, but her preparation came to naught. It was dark, almost completely dark aside from the soft glow of the city lights and the bar of light which came from the ajar door.

"Touma?" Mikoto asked as she looked at him, her voice rough and raspy, while she simply lay there, trying to get her thoughts in order. Touma, she noticed, was still wearing his office pants and shirt, with the sleeves rolled up and the first two buttons undone. He probably got rid of his tie and coat earlier on. "What time is it?"

"Oh, it's probably past 11 by now. Bad dream?" She could only shrug lightly in response as Touma handed her a glass of water, which she gratefully drank. "Sorry I stayed over so late. I kept on wondering whether I should just leave you a note or something but I kept on hesitating and before I knew it, it was already dark."

"Past 11? Really?" She seemed dubious and fumbled around for her phone. Touma grabbed the remote which controlled the lighting system in the unit and turned on the lights in her room. Thankfully, Mikoto finally found her phone and checked the time. It was 11:27 of April 19. "Damn. I was asleep for more than 9 hours? Really?"

"See? I told you you were more tired than you thought." He said as he softly ran his hands though her hair that was still mussed up from sleep. "Are you hungry? We should probably eat first before you take a bath. After that, you have to go back to sleep, alright? I'll stay with you until you fall asleep aga-"

"Why don't you just stay?" Mikoto asked with a blush as she turned away. "It's already this late anyway. And I made you wait for me for this long so why not just sleep over? You have some clothes here. You can go directly to work tomorrow."

"If you're okay with it then I don't see why not." Touma said as he stood up and reached a hand out to her. "But we are not going to stay up late watching movies or other things alright? Eat, bathe, sleep. That's it."

"I swear..." Mikoto muttered under her breath as she took his hand and stood up, stretching a bit before following him out the door. "You can be so much worse than my mom sometimes."

"Speaking of moms..." Touma trailed off from the kitchen as he warmed up to oyakodon that he had made. "Misuzu-san and my mom called your house phone earlier. They wanted to congratulate you on your job, saying things about not doubting that you would get accepted into it, among many other stuff."

"Other stuff?"Mikoto rolled her eyes as she took two glasses from her cupboard and started setting up the table. "They were probably dropping hints of marriage in a not so subtle way again."

"I did tell them that you're just 24-"

"I'm turning twenty five in two weeks!" Mikoto interrupted to which Touma just smiled.

"Yes, of course. I told them that in a matter of two weeks, you'd be 25," he corrected with a grin. "..and despite everything that you've achieved in your life, you're _still_ pretty young. You _still_ have your entire life ahead of you. And you're _still_ pretty busy with your new duty and all, forcing in the marriage would be too much."

"That's a hell of a lot of 'stills' in one sentence." Mikoto mused as Touma set down the bowl in front of her, and taking a seat himself.

"You know I'm ready to marry you any time, but I think you should probably enjoy your life a bit more. " He said, putting his hands together and saying his graces. "Ittadakimasu!" Mikoto blushed, but she did the same and started eating. "Though we can't really blame our parent's for being worried over this. Our engagement's been running for three years now, and not a single wedding detail has been made."

"Technically speaking, we've been engaged since I was 17, so that makes it about seven full years in the making."

"And since you weren't even human in four of those seven years, we go back to being engaged for three years." He reasoned, poking the egg on his meal. "But yeah, I guess any parent would get antsy with a set up like ours."

"Somehow, I still can't believe that you actually proposed to a high school girl while you were still in college."

"You agreed to it." Touma retorted with a shrug.

"I was on the brink of death, if you could even call it that."

"Fun fact, if things with Sumine-san hadn't ended up the way they did, I would've proposed to you when I was 18. But shit hit the fan and you left me for ten months, only to return because of some demented plot by a lunatic and his too much of a romantic best friend who happened to be vengeful spirits- "

"They were magical manifestations, remember?" Mikoto stated as a matter of factly. "Ave-san immortalized his soul with a Philosopher's stone and cast a spell upon it so he could be revived whenever Cielo-san is brought into this world."

"Details, shmetails who cares." Touma waved off. "Anyway, after that roller coaster of an ordeal, I still managed to pop you the question and got the answer I wanted. Listening to it and looking back on everything now, everything seems so normal, it's almost weird."

"Our parents nagging us to get married is normal?" Mikoto reiterated. "It's funny how we managed to go through a brief history of what happened between us all because of the idea of marriage being forced upon us by our parents, most especially our mothers. I never actually thought of our past like that."

Touma took a moment and stared at Mikoto as she continued eating her food. Noticing his silence, Mikoto looked up to him and tilted her head, a gesture that meant to ask him if something was wrong.

"Why _did_ we end up talking our past again?" Touma asked with a hint of confusion in his voice. "I mean, how could we go from nagging mothers to marriage to our entire past just like that?"

"Welcome to the wonders of the human mind, Kamijou Touma." Mikoto simply answered with a smile. "It's almost like every conversation I have with people I'm close to, most especially you, ends up in complete nonsense."

"Is that bad?"

"No, I guess not really." She answered, and their meal was left eaten in silence. ' _Ah shit._ ' Mikoto thought to herself. ' _The whole marriage thing had always been an issue between us and since neither of us knows how to deal with it, things just keep getting left at an awkward standstill_.' Silence was not an uncommon thing in their relationship, but it wasn't an everyday occurrence either. Most silences between them were either comfortable or out of anger, but whenever the topic of their engagement is brought about, they become unbearably awkward. Once they were finished eating, Touma was about to pick up their plates, but Mikoto had stopped him and offered to do it instead.

"You cooked and did everything for me since this morning." She reasoned, taking the plates from the table and bringing them over to the sink. "At least let me do _something_ in my own apartment."

"As you wish, my lady." Touma waved her off with a shrug as he sat back down on his chair, fiddling with his phone, seemingly checking his mails as Mikoto went on and washed the dishes. She was just about to finish scrubbing the bowls when Touma suddenly spoke. "Say, Mikoto?" She froze at the tone of his voice and the usage of her given name, but decidedly shrugged it off and simply continued her chore as she hummed in response. "Do you want to get married?"

Now that was a literal bomb. Mikoto accidentally let go of a bowl she was holding, causing it to thump against the sink. Thankfully, her arm was low enough for it to not break or give an alarmingly loud sound. But she knew that Touma heard it, she knew that his gaze was now on her even though her back was turned on him. She knew he was serious.

"Well?" Touma asked again after a minute of not hearing a response. Mikoto tried to compose herself as she picked up the dropped plate and continued scrubbing the inside of the bowl.

"How do you expect me to answer that, you idiot?" She mumbled the last part lowly, puffing out her reddening cheeks. Twenty four year old doctor or not, Misaka Mikoto was still quite the tsundere at times.

"All things considered, we have been together for quite some time now. Our families are quite close. Our friends all approve of us, well maybe there's Kuroko but let's not even go there." He mused out, making Mikoto smile. "Even though I'm not rich-"

"Touma." Mikoto said, dropping the utensils she was rinsing. "I know you know this, but that has never been an issue. It never will be."

"I know it's not." Touma reassured, as she heard a chair screeching against the floor, soft footsteps padding towards her. "If it was, then your family would've cut all ties with mine and Misuzu-san wouldn't be conspiring with my mom to get us hitched."

"And your point in bringing up the finance thing was what exactly?" She said, rinsing off the final pieces of cutlery, feeling his warmth moving closer to her.

"I was about to say that even though I'm not rich, I already have a stable job and I'm not the financially troubled teen I was before."

"You were only financially troubled because of all the mess you kept getting yourself in-"

"And going back to what I was saying." He interrupted, stopping right behind her. "We both have jobs now. The Magic and the Science side have been relatively at peace for the longest time. We both have our lives on track. We've been engaged for years. And I still love you." He whispered, reaching for her hand which had the Gekota-themed engagement ring on her ring finger, bringing it to his lips, despite being damp and possibly soapy. Mikoto couldn't bear to look at him, her eyes still trained on the now sopping wet dishes that were on the drying rack near her sink, her face blazing into fiery shades of red. "I know that I just said that I wanted you to enjoy your life a bit more, and that you're probably still busy with your new job and stuff, but if it was all up to me, I would've married you the moment you came back to me three years ago. But this isn't just about me. Marriage is about the both of us, so I want to know what you think."

Touma brought back their joined hands to their sides, as he waited for an answer. The room was so silent you could hear the water dripping from the faucet and the tick of the clock all the way from the living room. Due to their proximity, Mikoto could feel his warmth spreading to her back, his breath fanning across her temples, his heartbeat that was just as loud and as erratic as hers.

' _Damn it Misaka Mikoto! Say something_!' She thought angrily to herself as she tried to open her mouth to speak. _'The idiot just opened his heart out to you, telling you that he'd been thinking of your future all along! The least you can do is give him a sincere answer and not just some overrated silence!'_ But despite all the scoldings she gave herself, she still could not find the right words to speak. Touma sighed, his breath brushing past her temple to the top of her head as he stood up straight.

"I guess it really is a bit too much huh?" He nervously laughed, but she could hear his disappointment dripping from his words. He took a step back and let go of her hand, her body shamelessly missing his warmth already. "Sorry about that. You can forget I ever asked about-"

"L-L-Like hell c-could I forget it..." Mikoto mumbled lowly but just enough for Touma to hear her. She bit her bottom lip nervously as her hand gripped the edges of her blouse.

"Huh?" Touma absent mindedly asked out loud. The trauma of her silent rejection still not lost from his mind. Taking a deep breath, she willed herself to turn around and face him, cheeks flushed, knuckles white from her iron grip on the wrinkled ends of her blouse.

"L-like hell could I forget about it! You idiot!" She shouted, her pitch getting all messed up from her nerves and embarrassment. "Y-You...you say all those things to me and then tell me to forget about it? How could you?! Are you insane?!"

"B-but..you just kept quiet and I just assumed that you-"

"Well then you assumed wrong!" She exclaimed, taking a step forward. "I...I was just a little disoriented okay?! For you to just...suddenly blurt out sweet words like that!" Mikoto saw a faint red hue dusting Touma's cheeks, and her embarrassment came back to her full force. "I mean...it was an unexpected attack! At least give me some time to recover!" She muttered, looking to the sides, trying to avoid looking at his face which she found utterly adorable. Touma could only stare at her for half a second, before her words finally registered in his mind.

"Attack?" He repeated with a small laugh. "I try to propose to you and you call it an attack?"

"Propose?! _That_ was your proposal?!" She whipped her head around to face him, an angry disappointed look on her face.

"Technically, I proposed to you years ago, remember?" Touma remarked as he saw her indignant expression. "This is just...well... I guess a discussion of the renewal of a contract? Or something?"

"Don't compare our engagement to a business deal!"

"Well you started it."

"UGH! Can you please just not- ah dammit! Where was I?" Mikoto asked angrily, her brows furrowing cutely on her forehead. "I was trying to make a point and now I forgot it! Great! Just great!" She threw her arms up exasperatedly as she started pacing around the kitchen area. "What the hell was I trying to say anyway?"

"Hey,-" Touma tried to get her attention, but she was completely absorbed in her thoughts.

"Stupid idiot getting in the way of my thoughts! I just-"

"Hey, Mikoto!"

"Ugh, I can't even get my thoughts in order! I can't remember what it was I wanted to say! Dammit! I hope you're happy now, Kamijou Touma! You've completely messed up my brain and now I can't even think straight!"

"Mikoto!" Touma shouted, grabbing her shoulders and turning her so she could face him, his grip keeping her in place. "Just say what you want to say!"

"YES!" Mikoto shouted back, before a hand came over her mouth, preventing it from speaking any further. Touma could only gape at her, before a smile slowly grew on his face, his cheeks sporting a small dusting of red.

"Mikoto...I'm gonna need you to tell me specifically what that yes means or I'll forever be wondering what it was you-"

"It meant that I love you _and_ I want to marry you!" Mikoto answered back impatiently. She almost couldn't believe that he was asking confirmation for what it was she said Yes to. "I don't care about your stupid idea of me enjoying my young adult life and all that shit! I can handle my work just fine! Yes, planning a wedding isn't really easy, but I'm pretty sure that our moms and my friends would be more than willing to lend us a hand! Being a doctor is really time consuming, but..well... I mean, if...if you'll stay by my side and support me through all of it then I'm sure we'll be fine!" She turned her head to the side, not being able to stare any longer into his honest azure eyes that just seemingly stared through her entire being.

"I...I don't think that I'm too young for any of this. We're both adults now, and...well, I can be really childish and reckless, and you're probably going to have to keep making me food and helping me in the mornings and doing chores and other stuff. I can be violent and irrational and annoying. We're probably going to fight a lot and my stupid pride might come between us and all that but...but if you'll still want me...if you'll still have me as your bride...then..." Mikoto took a deep breath and steeled herself to turn and face him, gazing into his eyes that were twinkling with delight and shock. Seeing him so happy over just a few of her jumbled and messed up words made her blush once more, but it somehow calmed her nerves. "If you'd still accept me, even while knowing all of this then I'd really very much like to marry you."

Touma almost couldn't control the smile that was terribly apparent on his face as he pulled her closer to him, embracing her, channeling all the giddiness that he felt into that one hug.

"I'm just an unfortunate guy that always gets himself into all sorts of trouble. I'm pretty stupid when it comes to most things and I'm just a normal office worker working for a normal company. " He whispered into the embrace, nuzzling his face against her hair and the crook of her neck. "My only redeemable feature would be my tenacity and my cooking skills. I'm two years older than you and I don't have much, but if you're okay with that, then I'd very much like to marry you as well, Misaka Mikoto."

"Then...I guess this means...we both...accept?" Mikoto asked, wrapping her arms around his torso. Touma put a little space between them, just enough so he could touch her face with both of his hands and burn her expression into his mind.

"The three year engagement is finally going somewhere?" Touma asked, bringing his face closer to hers, a smile of pure happiness gracing his lips.

"I'd still like to debate that it's seven years, but I'm pretty sure you have something other than debating on your mind right now." She bit back with a blush as she lifted her arms to wrap around his neck, tilting her face upward to meet his.

"I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one with such thoughts right now." He commented slyly, moving close enough so that their noses were touching each other, their breaths dancing across each other's lips.

"Are you just gonna keep talking? Or am I going to have to do something about that mouth of yours, Kamijou Touma?"

"I think I prefer the latter."

"Idiot." She muttered, before Touma finally leaned in and kissed her.

* * *

"Hnnnn~" Mikoto groaned as she felt the rough vibrations of what seemed like a cellphone near her. She tried drowning out the sound of the vibrations, but it was pretty persistent. "Damn it all to hell..." She muttered angrily, reaching for the bedside table and grasping the incessant little thing. "Hello?"

"You finally picked up!" A male voice shouted from the other side of the call, making Mikoto wince. "Do you know how many times I've been trying to call you?! Where the hell are you?!"

"Haah?!" Mikoto bit back at the irate voice. "I'm sleeping at home, if you must know. Who are you and how did you get my number?"

"Who am-?! Wait a minute, you're not Kamijou." The voice said suspiciously.

"Damn right I'm not. Why'd you even-"

"Who are you?"

"Well aren't you rude?" Mikoto sighed before sitting up. "Misaka Mikoto speaking. Can I please know who you are and why you know my number?"

"Misaka Mikoto?" The stranger repeated loudly. "That infamous Level 5 from a few years ago? I've heard the rumors that you were going out with Kamijou, but I didn't think they were real. "

"Look, I haven't been sleeping properly for a long time and you just woke me up, so could we please wrap this up and just tell me who you are and how you got my number?" Mikoto said, pinching the bridge of her nose, trying to appease an on coming head ache.

"I don't have your number." The voice replied, seemingly calmer. "Unless Kamijou lied about his cellphone number during his application, then I'm pretty sure that the number I'm calling should belong to a man named Kamijou Touma." As his words slowly began to sink into Mikoto's mind, she blinked for a few times, taking the phone from her ear and holding it out in front of her face. It was, much to her shock, black, whereas her phone was supposed to be green. The most alarming thing though would be the words written on the Caller ID "Kurosawa (Demon Manager)".

"Oh no..." Mikoto breathed out, immediately looking at the other side of the bed where Kamijou Touma lay, sleeping peacefully with his back turned to her.

"Oh yes." The man, now known as Kurosawa, replied. A mad blush crept upon Mikoto's face as she fumbled with the sheets, relieved to see that they were both fully clothed.

"Oh god..." She muttered as she saw the time on the upper right corner of the screen. It was 12:47pm of April 20.

"I assume we can have a civil conversation now, Miss Misaka Mikoto?" Kurosawa said, as Mikoto simply shook her head and tried to bury her face on her knees. "It's probably pointless of me to ask, and I honestly do not care about what my employees do in their spare time, but judging from how you picked up, I'm assuming you're in bed with him?"

"Yes, but it's not like that! We didn't do anything! I swear!" Mikoto's face immediately turned red as internally panicked. ' _Ugh, why is it always me?'_ Mikoto thought to herself as she took a breath and tried to calm herself down. '"I really do apologize for my behavior. Yes, Touma is beside me right now. He's sleeping like a log, he stayed up late watching over me last night, so he must be quite tired. Is Touma in some sort of trouble?" She asked as she peered over at Touma, seeing him rub his cheek against her pillow.

"Trouble? It's a weekday, Miss Misaka Mikoto. That sleeping man has work, along with an important presentation that he needs to contribute to! A presentation whose deadline is about two hours from now!" The man shouted into the receiver., his voice ringing annoyingly in her ears.

"Okay, please just hold for a second." She replied, turning to the sleeping man beside her. "Touma! Hey, idiot! Touma!" she called out, shaking him awake, but he simply would not budge. "I said, wake up!" Mikoto sent out a few volts of electricity, just enough to shock him up and about.

"What the-!" Touma shrieked, sitting up. "OI. Surely there are much more gentler ways for you to wake up your boyfriend of ten long years?" He muttered, trying to get the tingling sensation out of his system, but once he saw her face (the just woke up look was definitely one of his favorites), all he was left with was the butterflies in his stomach. "Ah, I forgot. We decided to get on with our engagement last night, so I guess that means you're my fiancee now." He added, grinning sheepishly at her, making her squirm and blush.

"We...we've been engaged for seven years, Touma. What the hell are you babbling on about now?" Mikoto shook her head as she let out a sigh, trying to take control of the blush on her cheeks.. "Anyway, here-AH!" The next thing that Mikoto knew, she was once again lying down, but this time, her face was buried in Touma's chest, his arms wrapped around her tightly. "What the hell do you think you're doing, you idiot?!" She screamed, pushing him away.

"Uh, hugging you?" Touma answered sarcastically before pulling her closer to him once more. "Seriously, I lay my heart open to you and propose for the second time and all I get is a electric attack first thing in the morning?"

"Touma! Now is not the time for-"

"You know, if I were any other simple man, I wouldn't have settled for simply lying next to you as we slept last night!" He hugged her tighter, nuzzling the top of her head and inhaling her scent. "You should be proud of my self control! Years of being beside you, and we even had that kind of talk last night, but yet here we are, fully clothed and, to my utter disappointment, no breakfast in bed in sight."

"W-what kind of character do you think I am, you moron?!" Mikoto replied hastily, planting her elbow into his gut. "Mou! Can't you just listen to me for a sec-"

"I hope you both realize that I can hear everything clearly." A male voice rang out, making both Mikoto and Touma freeze.

"Arere, Misaka-san..." Touma laughed out nervously as his grip unknowingly loosened. "I seem to be having delusions of my demon of a boss's voice haunting me."

"Demon? Well then I guess I'll see you in hell, eh Kamijou?" the voice replied again. Touma could only look at Mikoto who was burying her face into one of her palms while her other hand reached out to show him his phone. "Look, I don't care about your fantasies with that Level 5 fiancee of yours, it's not technically her fault that you're still a virgin."

"W-w-wait a minute!" Touma shouted, his face terribly flushed, grabbing the phone and sitting up. "K-Kurosawa-san! Such a lovely morning eh, good sir?" He said, stressing the last word angrily.

"Lovely? Morning?" Kurosawa repeated threateningly. "If only you'd shown up to work early this morning and worked on your presentation, then maybe I might consider this to be good, but if you haven't noticed, Kamijou, it's already afternoon and you are late by several hours. I don't know where the hell you are right now but I expect you to be in this hellhole you call work in 30 minutes or I swear to the gods that I will have your head on a platter!"

"Maa, maa Kurosawa, if it's about the Gatenjou proposition, I already finalized the details, they should be with Haruka-san." Touma looked over to Mikoto and gave an apologetic smile as he stood up and walked over to the balcony of her bedroom. Mikoto smiled at his retreating figure, noticing how mature he sounded when he was talking about his work. Opting to leave him be, Mikoto simply stretched out her arms before padding towards the kitchen to fix them some breakfast.

' _Well... I guess Touma can't always be the bumbling high school idiot he was before_ ' She thought to herself as she started taking out the ingredients for some pancakes. ' _But still, I may not remember much, but based from the videos my our friends showed us, along with the few memories that I still do have, Touma really has changed huh?_ '

"Eeeeh?!" Touma's voice whined, as he hung his head low and muttered something which vaguely sounded like 'Such misfortune!' Laughing to herself, Mikoto heated up two pans, one for the pancakes, the other for bacon and eggs. 'I _guess some things will always stay the same.._.' Just as she was about to crack an egg, Touma's angry voice suddenly boomed throughout the apartment.

"That has nothing to do with this!" He shouted, seemingly quite angry at Kurosawa-san, if he was still talking to him. He didn't even notice how loud his voice was, nor did he notice her presence when she peered at him. "I already told you that it's not like that! What the hell is their problem? I'm doing everything I'm supposed to, aren't I?!" Touma was hard-headed and he had a bad habit of rushing into trouble, but she had only seen this kind of anger out of him on very few occasions.

' _I probably shouldn't eavesdrop like this...'_ Mikoto thought as she tip toed back into the kitchen to finish up their breakfast. Deciding to make last minute changes to the menu, she hurriedly finished up her cooking, finishing just in time. As soon as Touma walked into the kitchen, she was already placing the food in platters.

"You said something about breakfast in bed earlier right?" She greeted him with a smile, knowing full well that maybe his day hadn't started out quite right because of that phone call. "Sorry it's not in bed, but it is breakfast nonetheless. I can guarantee that you won't get food poisoning."

"Thanks, Mikoto." He muttered with a faint smile, leaning his head on the counter of the breakfast nook. "Sorry, it looks like I'm gonna have to go to work right after breakfast. I was planning on spending the entire day with you, but seems like I'm needed at work."

"Huh? We never talked about spending the entire day together though?" She asked quizzically as she brought over the plates. "And besides, your work is important. Seems like Kurosawa-san _is_ a demon manager. I always thought that you were exaggerating your stories, but hearing his voice totally cemented it."

"He'd kill me if he found out about the things I'd been telling you. But he's not really as bad as I might make him out to be." Touma laughed as he watched her fiddle with the tea pot. "Tea? You're not gonna make coffee?"

"Coffee won't calm you down, Touma." She mumbled, carrying the tray and pouring him some tea. "Putting that aside, so I take it that you two are friends then? How old is he?"

"The two of us are roughly around the same age, though I'm probably older by a few months." He answered, taking a sip of his tea, instantly feeling the soothing warmth in his body. "He's a good guy, really. He was willing to start as a measly department manager even though he's the company's heir. I wouldn't be surprised if the two of you actually met before, being in the same social circle and all."

"Well then I'll be sure to try and leave a better impression on him when I see him. Kurosawa right? I'll remember that." She smiled at him, watching him drink his tea gratefully. "And?"

"And what?" Touma asked as Mikoto simply put a and to her waist, staring him down.

"What's go you so riled up?" She asked blatantly. "If you're almost-friends with Kurosawa-san, then he wouldn't have sounded like that earlier and you wouldn't have erupted like that."

"Ah, so you heard me then? That explains the tea quite well, really."

"I'd have to be deaf for me to not hear your outburst. You're not having trouble at work now are you? To be honest, I didn't think you'd be the type to work badly with people. You saved the Academy City and the world multiple times with the help of different kinds of people. You're practically the king of team work and idiocy." She took a forkful of eggs and held it out for Touma. He looked at her questioningly, but Mikoto just brought the fork closer to him, so he obliged and ate.

"It's fluffy and creamy." Touma commented as he chewed. "When did you learn to cook this?"

"I have been living by myself for a few months now, and it's not like I don't watch you cook and stuff." She replied with a smile, proud of her work. "I added some milk. Milk helps build tolerance you know? I'm just kinda glad that it turned out alright." Mikoto was about to take her seat when she felt Touma's arms wrap around her waist, pulling her towards him. "T-Touma?"

"I really love you, you know that?" He mumbled, his voice barely audible. Mikoto blushed at his words and was about to retort with a tsundere remark, but she suddenly felt his hug tighten too much, to the point that it almost became painful. Mikoto just stared at his spiky head of hair before releasing a sigh and running her hands though the strands.

"I really love you too." She mumbled back, her voice soothing and gentle. "I always have and I always will, no matter what." Touma was silent for a few more seconds, before he loosened his hold on her waist, peering up at her.

"No matter what?" He asked, his eyes warm and gentle, but beneath the gentle exterior lay his troubled gaze.

"No matter what." Mikoto replied gently, trying to re assure him as much as she could, despite not knowing what it was that troubled him in the first place. Touma would tell her sooner or later when he's ready. And when that time comes, she already resolved to herself that she would listen and help him get through it.

 _No matter what._

* * *

April 21, 2:34 pm

"That is pretty weird..." Ruiko commented as she took a sip of her drink. The four friends were currently situated in a brand new cafe that had just opened up a few weeks ago, trying the famous cheese tarts that they advertised.

"It is, right?" Mikoto mumbled, deep in though. "I mean, Touma has always been quite the weirdo, but he just doesn't act like that all of a sudden. Unless we were dealing with yet another life threatening situation..."

"I highly doubt that would be the case though..." Kuroko took another bite from her tart, chewing it properly, before speaking once more. "Aside from the usual troubles brought about by simply being in Academy City, no noteworthy problem has ever cropped up for quite some time now. "

"But Touma-niisan has never been the kind of person to start trouble for himself. He has a habit of getting into the problems of others, but he hardly ever makes them for himself, aside from his usual misfortune." Kazari said, expressing her thoughts on the matter. "Maybe he was just trying to be sweet to you, Mikoto-san."

"If he was planning on something like that, then he should follow it all throughout the day." Mikoto sighed, stuffing her mouth with a tart. "After he left, he never called me, it was always just short messages. Then he didn't even come over for dinner."

"Maybe he was just tired?" Ruiko asked.

"That man usually has no concept of being tired whenever Onee-sama is concerned." Kuroko replied, waving her hand. "I understand his enthusiasm with Mikoto-neesama's matters, but his is almost at an inhuman level. Not many people could cheat death, travel to other planes of existence or fight off enemies of unknown origins, and live to tell the tale. All for the sake of love."

"Oi, you make it sound like being with me _entails_ being surrounded by danger at every turn." Mikoto huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, it _is_." All three readily agreed with a nod, making Mikoto grunt and slump.

"It's not entirely your fault, Mikoto-neesama, but there really is no such thing as a normal day in your lives. With you two combined, it's like you're beckoning danger to come at you." Kuroko added, pointing a fork at Mikoto, making the older girl pout, unable to think of a retort.

"But going back to Touma-nii..." Ruiko tried diverting the girl's attention, looking at Mikoto straight in the eye. "What part of this is bothering you actually? Is it the phone calls? The messages? The lack of nightly visits?"

"When you put it that way, I sound like some needy bitchy girlfriend..." Mikoto placed her elbow in the table, leaning her face against her palm. "But that isn't what's bothering me. If he's really just too busy, then I would want him to spend less time on me so he could focus on his work. If he really was just tired, then of course I'd want him to spend as much time as he could resting. I'm perfectly content with knowing that he gets home safely every night, and that he's already eaten dinner. If he has something to tell me, then I'd gladly listen to all his stories, but something about this just doesn't feel right. I know that he must be having some kind of trouble at work, but that's not really an aspect of his life that I should be intruding in. I'm pretty sure that he wouldn't want me to pull any strings for him either. I'm at a complete loss..."

"Mikoto-san..." Kazari muttered, not knowing what to say. Kuroko and Ruiko shared a look, before they both sighed, wry smiles on their faces.

"Really, Mikoto-neesama..." Kuroko picked up her tea cup and took a sip, hiding the smile on her face. "I really don't see the point in you brooding over a matter such as this. The matter has been already settled, hasn't it?"

"Huh? S-settled?" Kazari asked.

"You've already decided what it is you have to do, right?" Ruiko turned to Mikoto giving her a smile. "Before you even talked to us about this, you already knew how you're going to handle this. Whatever your decision is, Mikoto-san, I can honestly tell you that it's probably the best thing to do. All you need now is time, patience and a little bit of courage."

"To think that the great Misaka Mikoto is actually whining to us about the consequences of her actions though..." Kuroko almost laughed, making Mikoto blush and stutter.

"I-I'm not really whining-"

"But I must say..." Kuroko interjected, cutting Mikoto off. "Hearing you complain about such matters is quite reassuring. You've already had to carry so much heavy burdens throughout these past years by yourself. But now, in one way or another, you're sharing it with us. After everything, you've matured quite a bit, Mikoto-neesama."

"Okay, now you guys are just being mean..." Mikoto mumbled, dropping her head on the table.

"Uh..well... I don't really quite understand what's happening right now..." Kazari laughed sheepishly, before looking at Mikoto with a gentle gaze. "But, Mikoto-san." She said, making Mikoto turn her head and look at her. "Whatever it is, please know that we will always be supporting you. If you want to whine or complain, we're all just one call away. We're friends after all!"

"Kazari..." Mikoto muttered before sitting up properly, a smile on her face. "You guys really are the best, you know that?"

"But of course we are!" Kuroko answered, puffing out her chest. "Mikoto-neesama being my Onee-sama only deserves nothing but the best, after all!" She said, making the other girls laugh. "Ah, I almost forgot. What was it that you wanted to tell us today, Mikoto-neesama?" Kuroko asked, making Mikoto choke on her drink.

"Eh?" Ruiko titled her head, turning to face Kuroko. "Didn't we get together to celebrate Mikoto-san's job acceptance? I skipped one of my lectures for this you know!" She said proudly.

"Don't be so proud of the fact that you skipped it, Ruiko..." Mikoto muttered, staring at them, before she took a deep breath. "But yeah, I do have another reason for calling you guys out today."

"Well, go on, Mikoto-neesama." Kuroko said, gesturing her hand towards Mikoto before taking another sip of her tea. "I hardly think that anything you say would surprise us more than your complaints of Touma-senpai."

"You just had to put it like that huh?" Mikoto deadpanned, hanging her head low. She caught a glimpse of the glinting ring on her left ring finger, and the memories of that night came flooding into her mind, bringing a smile to her face. _It's as they said. It's not like this would surprise them anymore._ "But well, Touma and I were talking the other night and we decided to push through with our engagement. That's all."

"Ah, that's right." Kazari muttered, putting a finger to her cheek as she remembered. "I almost forgot that you guys had been engaged for quite some time now huh?"

"And their engagement ring is that of a childish frog, might I add." Kuroko added grimly, with a tinge of disappointment.

"But it made Mikoto-san happy, didn't it?" Ruiko commented, about to stick her fork into her tart. "Isn't that all that matters?"

' _Well that was easy...'_ Mikoto thought, staring at her friends. ' _They just took things into stride huh? I guess it really isn't as surprising as I thought it to be?'_

"Hnn...eh?" Ruiko suddenly paused, a smile plastered on her face as her fork froze in mid air. "P-push through?" She asked, her expression still frozen into the smile she had earlier. "Y-your engagement?"

"Hmm? Well, yeah. That's what I said, didn't I?" Mikoto asked, tilting her head to the side as another piece of her tart made it into her mouth. Time seemingly froze for the other three ladies seated at the table as Mikoto simply went on eating. Noticing their silence, Mikoto looked at them confusedly before asking "Hey, guys?"

"Push..." Ruiko mumbled.

"Engagement..." Kuroko followed.

"Then..." Kazari gulped. "...Marriage?"

"Obviously?" Mikoto confirmed, staring at her friends weirdly. "That is what I said didn't I? We're pushing through with the engagement. Touma and I are getting married." The three were at a standstill for a fraction of a second before the sounds of cutlery dropping could be heard.

"WHAAAAAAAAT?!" They screamed in unison, slamming their hands on the table., as Mikoto jolted backwards onto the backrest of her chair, their voices still ringing in her ears.

' _And they said I couldn't surprise them with anything...'_

-chapter end-

 **Yeah, I still don't proof read. Thanks for reading! Till next time!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Well this took a while huh. This chapter's been done for quite some time now actually, but I just never had the chance to put it up, since I promised myself that I would write the latest chapter for FYF:AR first before I do. But lol, I can't remember the story line of FYF anymore so I'm still trying to figure it out.**

 **I just made a huge realization. Mikoto's bear is Kirugumaru (Kill bear) not Kurigumaru. I've been writing it wrong the whole time. Damn.**

Chapter 4

April 22, 9:46 pm

"You know, you could've at least saved me from my friends' excitement." Mikoto sighed, laying down on the soft sheets of her bed. "They've been dragging me to bridal shops around Academy City even while I was telling them that we still hadn't decided on a date."

"They're _your_ friends, BiriBiri." Touma's voice echoed from the speaker of her phone as she looked over the multitude of pamphlets and brochures that they had procured over a single afternoon. "Aren't you glad though? At least now we know that they're hyped enough to do the planning for you."

"I'm not sure if that was meant to be a reassurance or a warning." She said, pulling Kill Bear closer to her body and hugging it tight. "Yeah, planning can be a pain but it still is our wedding. I want us to be able to decide on most things as much as we can."

"You're barely managing to keep yourself together, though. Are you sure you can handle it once you start working?"

"Your faith in me is amazing, Touma." Mikoto pouted as she stared at the ring on her finger for probably the hundredth time that day. "But I'm pretty sure I can do it. Nothing is impossible when you put your mind to it, right? But if we really are serious about getting married this time, then we need to get a few details straight. It's a bit of a pain having to explain things through the phone, so do you think you can meet up with me for lunch or dinner tomorrow?"

"So it's lunch _and_ dinner then? Okay, got it." Touma repeated, his happiness evident in the tone of his voice.

"Wait, I asked you to choose between the two. I didn't ask you to make time for both lunch and dinner-"

"I haven't seen you in two days, Mikoto. I miss you." Touma said, cutting her off. Mikoto felt her face flush as he spoke once again. "I don't know about you, but at times like these, I really wish I had Kuroko's teleportation ability. Being able to just pop up out of nowhere in the blink of an eye is absolutely tempting."

"Idiot, I could go over to your apartment right now." She mumbled, sitting up and searching for her bag. "I mean, it's not like I have much to do anywa-"

"Misaka Mikoto, you better drop whatever stupid thought you're having right now and go back to lying on your bed." Hearing his command, Mikoto was absolutely stumped as she did as he said and laid down.

"How the hell did you know I was lying down earlier anyway?" She mumbled into her pillow.

"Because of the way you talk and your breathing." He answered simply.

"What? How the hell could you tell that I was lying down on my bed through my breathing and the way I talk?"

"I notice everything about you, if you didn't know." Touma answered snidely. "And besides, I've known you for years. It really shouldn't be that much of a surprise to you."

"I'm starting to believe what Tsuchimikado-senpai said before about you being some kind of pervert." Mikoto giggled, checking out her schedule on her tablet. "Seriously though, how dare you call my idea of going over to your apartment stupid? It's not like you haven't done it before. It's not even 10 in the evening yet. I used to chase you around town waaay past midnight didn't I?"

"You seriously need to be more self-aware, BiriBiri." Touma sighed as he shook his head and walked over to his balcony, sliding the door open to bask in the night air. "Just because we got into a lot of trouble in our younger years doesn't mean we have to stay that way. I'd pretty much appreciate it if I didn't have to be called over at some Anti-Skill detention center to bail my fiancee out for picking fights with thugs and renegade Skill Outs."

"As if those people could ever get the chance to arrest me in the first place." Mikoto rolled her eyes as the impossibility of that statement. "Anyway, stop trying to change the topic, Touma. If we want to see each other, then what's so wrong with actually going out of our way to do so?It's just as you said, we haven't seen each other in two days. I...even I'm starting to miss you so much that I'm actually saying it outright." She buried her face in her hands before turning around so she could lay face down on her bed.

"I never thought that the day the phrase 'I miss you' would ever come out of your mouth without any follow up act of violence."

"I wish I could teleport so I _could_ follow up with the act of violence you speak of."

"Maa, maa, Misaka-sensei~" He cooed, crossing his arms over the railing and looking up to the night sky. "But I really am sorry, Mikoto." He said in a low voice. Mikoto didn't speak, so he took it as his cue to continue. "It's just really busy at work these past few days because of the new acquisition deal that the company was planning. Kurosawa has been tearing our heads off at every turn because nothing is going right. I'm really sorry I haven't been able to see you or even just call you. "

"Is there really nothing else?" Mikoto asked, playing with the Gekota necklace on her chest. "If there's something I can do, you know that I'd do it in a heartbeat. I know you hate it when I use my connections and influence for your sake, but if it helps then..." She stopped speaking, not really knowing where she wanted to go with that sentence. "Are you having trouble at work, Touma?"

"What are you saying, BiriBiri?" Touma tried to laugh, but Mikoto could hear the falsity of it all. "Like I said, we're all just a little busy-"

"I know you're busy _with_ work, but I'm asking you if you're having trouble _at_ it." Mikoto said, sitting up. "I trust you, Touma. Believe me, I really do. But in the same way that you notice everything about me, I notice things about you too. I know that you're hiding something, and I already promised myself that I'd just sit back and wait for you to open up to me about it, but knowing that you're struggling so much to the point that you put up an act in front of me isn't really the easiest thing to do. My resolve wavers with every single lie you tell me."

The line was kept in silence at Mikoto patiently waited for Touma to speak, but when minutes have passed and he still hadn't said a word, she just sighed and shook her head.

"I guess that's just it, isn't it?" She said, her voice heavy and dreadful.

"I won't let this affects us, Mikoto, I swear." Touma finally said, his words full of resolve. "I'm just having a hard time handling things, but it really isn't that big of a deal. I'm sorry I worried you, but really, I'm fine. I can handle this. And once all this is over, I swear that you and our wedding will take precedence over everything else. Just...give me a little more time to settle things, okay?"

This time, it was Mikoto who chose not to speak as the went quiet again.

' _I guess, there's nothing I can do about this huh?_ ' Mikoto thought to herself as she let out another sigh, a heavy burden weighing on her chest. "Have you eaten dinner yet? It's getting quite late."

"Not yet..." Touma answered, relieved that he heard some kind of response from her, even though he could practically hear the sadness dripping from her tone. "I can always just whip up a quick meal or something. How about you?"

"The girls and I were snacking quite a bit this afternoon so I'm still kind of full."

"Are you sure you're okay with not eating dinner?" Touma asked worriedly, his mother-hen side showing again. "I can always make you food and drop it off-"

"Who was the one who said that my late night visiting plan was stupid?"

"You always manage to find a way to turn things around, don't you?" Touma said humorously as he stared at the Touma-nized version of Gekota that Mikoto had given him years before. "Say, Mikoto?"

"Hnn?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

And after a few more seconds of strained silence, they both dropped the call without saying another word.

* * *

April 23, 10:27 am

"Just how frothy is 'the right texture of frothiness' exactly?" Mikoto said out loud as she pressed on the mixer once more, giving her meringue mixture another round of whipping. Thinking that it might not be frothy enough, she gave it one more whir, turning it up to the highest setting.

"Uh...Mikoto-san?" Ruiko called out, staring at overly frothy mixture on the bowl. "I probably wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Hm? What do you mean-" and before she could even finish her sentence, the mixer had already begun its work, splaying around bits of extremely fluffy blobs of meringue all over her once pristine kitchen counter. Slamming the stop button furiously, Mikoto looked at her messy apron before turning her gaze to a hysterical Ruiko who had meringue all over her face. "You could've said something earlier you know, Ruiko. The reason why I called you over was to ask for your help in baking. Not for you to stand around and make fun of me."

"Ah, but it's been a while since I've seen this clumsy side of yours, Mikoto-san! I just couldn't resist." Ruiko laughed before standing up and helping her clean up the mess. "I wouldn't mind skipping another lecture if it meant being able to see you mess up in the kitchen!"

"Thank god you don't have to skip anything." Mikoto shook her head as she dumped her failure on the sink. "Your class starts at 1, right? You should probably leave at around 12 if you want to have lunch before going to class, sorry I can't go with you though."

"It's fine, it's fine!" Ruiko waved off. "Touma-nii is taking you out for lunch right? Might as well say hi to him and congratulate him on the pursuit of the stalled engagement!" She said cheerily, but the smile wavered from her face when she saw Mikoto's pensive expression.

"Pursuit...huh?" She sighed, readying the ingredients for her second attempt. "Well, I guess the both of us aren't really good with finding the right timing for stuff."

"Are you still having trouble with Touma-nii?" Ruiko asked, crossing her arms over the counter. "Ah, but he is taking you out for lunch. Doesn't that mean that the situation has at least improved a bit?"

"I don't really know about that. I tried talking to him yesterday via phone call, but well, he still wouldn't say anything. I was as direct as I possibly could, and he still kept it to himself." Mikoto placed the mixture into the mixture and set it up for a whir. "Keep this a secret between us, but.. even though it hasn't been a week since we decided to get on with the engagement, I'm starting to think that maybe it might not be the right time after all."

"What do you mean 'it might not be the right time' Mikoto-san? You and Touma-nii have been wanting this for years!"

"I know... But it's just..." Mikoto paused, pressing the stop button on the machine. "I mean, sure, after everything we've been through, a small conflict like this won't be enough to break us apart. But..." She trailed off, staring at the mixture.

"Are you..." Ruiko tried to think of other ways to put it, but when she was at a loss, she decided to just blurt it out. "You're not having second thoughts about your feelings for Touma-nii, are you?" She asked, to which Mikoto just stared indignantly at first, before she stopped and sighed.

"Aaaah, I guess that really is the normal conclusion huh? But no, of course not." She replied solemnly, smiling up at the younger girl. "I may not be certain about a lot of things in my life, but one thing I'm sure of is that Touma will be the only one that I'll ever love like this in my lifetime. There's nothing I'm more sure of than my feelings for him."

"Then why are you having doubts now, of all times?"

"Well..." Mikoto sat back down on a stool. "How do I say this? Uh, you know how Touma and I, along with you guys for that matter, never really had a normal life throughout our school years?" She asked, to which Ruiko nodded. "I guess...we're just not really used to settling down, living a stable life and all that. When small problems crop up, I always get paranoid if it's just a prelude to something bigger, and well...I panic a little." Mikoto smiled pathetically to herself, staring at ring on her finger. "Everything is just too good to be true, I'm starting to think that either this is all just a dream or that something really bad is going to happen. I just really want things to work out for us this time around, you know?"

"Mou, Mikoto-san..." Ruiko smiled, walking over to Mikoto and giving her a hug. "You don't have to worry about any of that! So what if some bad things happen? All of us are gonna be here to fight it with you! Besides!" She exclaimed, pushing her at arms-length, a wide grin on her face. "It's a bit too early for you to have marriage blues! At least wait until we have a set date!"

"M-marriage blues?" Mikoto stuttered, a slight blush on her cheeks. She was about to deny the accusation, but when she saw the cheeky grin on Ruiko's face, she couldn't help but feel a slight warmth in her chest. _'Aaah~ I guess it doesn't really matter if she sees it like that...'_ She thought to herself as Ruiko turned her attention to the dessert they were making.

"Yosh!" Ruiko said with conviction, turning around to face the tabletop full of ingredients as she tightened the ribbon of her apron. "We should go ahead and prepare some kick ass mille-feuille with meringue for your fabulous dinner date with Touma-nii!"

"Calling a simple home cooked dinner fabulous is kind of stretching it, don't you think Ru-?"

"And when Touma-nii realizes the effort you put into all of this, you have to tell him okay?" Ruiko looked back at Mikoto, a gentle smile on her face. "I'm glad you shared this with me, but you have to talk this over with him, Mikoto-san. Okay?" Mikoto could only gape at her friend for a few seconds before she wryly shook her head and simply sighed.

"You really are way too perceptive for your own good." She said, standing up and walking over to her, taking the bowl of meringue.

"You really are just too cute, Mikoto-san." Ruiko giggled taking a whisk from the pantry. "Okay, now the key to baking is precision! Let's measure the ingredients shall we?"

* * *

April 23, 11:59 am

"Mou! Of all the times for my clock's battery to run out!" Mikoto cried out as she ran through the streets of District 7. "And why the hell didn't our phones set off an alarm?!"

"We never really set an alarm, Mikoto-san..." Ruiko breathed as she ran alongside her. "But I must say, I'm impressed that you actually managed to get dressed and fix yourself up in 10 minutes! You look absolutely gorgeous!" She remarked as she gave Mikoto a look over once more. She was wearing a white summer style chiffon dress, paired with a rose colored jacket and white sandals. She had her hair tied into a braid that shifted to the side,letting it fall over her left shoulder, fastened by a matching rose colored ribbon.

"You...Do you think I look okay?" Mikoto timdily asked as she stopped and glanced at her reflection on the window of one of the shops they were passing through. She personally thought that she didn't look too bad, but her hair really could've used a lot more work.

"Are you kidding me?" Ruiko piped up, placing both hands on her shoulders, smiling at their reflections. "Touma-nii is gonna _have_ to want to marry you on the spot! You have to teach me how you did your hair in such a short time!"

"Ah! Speaking of short time!" Mikoto rummaged through her small handbag, fishing out her phone to see the time. It was 12:02 pm. "Shit, I'm late! Hurry, Ruiko!" She called out before sprinting off into a run.

"It's not like Touma-nii will get mad at you for being a few minutes late, Mikoto-san." Ruiko panted as they turned a corner and ran through a park. "Uh, where are we going, Mikoto-san?"

"This is a short cut to Touma's office building!" Mikoto shouted back confidently. "I always take this route whenever I'm late for our meet ups!"

' _So you being late is an ordinary thing eh?'_ Ruiko thought, but simply decided to keep it to herself. As they were running through a particularly populated part of the park, weird croaking frog sounds suddenly came out of nowhere, forcing them to a halt. ' _No...don't tell me...'_ She looked over to Mikoto who seemed to be stiff as a rock, slowly turning her head towards her, as if asking for help. ' _Oh god, I knew it..._ '

"Aaah~ It's kinda too early for frogs to appear this season, huh?" She blatantly lied in a loud enough voice as she hurried over to Mikoto, grabbed her hand and made a run for it. "Seriously, Mikoto-san, if you're gonna be embarrassed about it then change your ring tone already!"

"B-but it's Gekota calling out to me!" Mikoto whined as she held the phone in her hands, the frog sounds still coming from it.

"Mou! Just hurry up and answer the call already!"

"I'm on it!" Mikoto immediately flipped her phone and pressed it to her ear. "Hello?...Ah, Touma!" Ruiko smiled as she picked up on the evident happiness in Mikoto's voice. "I'm really sorry, I'm late! I lost track of time and well...eh?" Mikoto stopped running, focusing her attention on the phone call. "Ah..well, no. It's okay...No, really! It's like I told you! I'm kind of running late myself...No, no, I'm still at home!" She lied, looking over to Ruiko with a sad smile, a finger on her lips as if asking her to keep it a secret. "It's really okay, Touma! In the first place, I only asked you out for lunch or dinner, you were the one who decided on both!... No, really, it's okay. I'll just have lunch somewhere, since I'm too lazy to cook...No! I swear, I promise I'm going to eat! Good luck with work, and don't worry about me okay?...Yeah, I'll see you later...Yeah, bye." She bade, closing her phone, and staring at the ground. She took a deep breath before looking up and smiling at Ruiko. "Well now that was a waste of effort huh?"

"Mikoto-san..." Ruiko ground out her name, as she placed both hands on her waist. "Touma-nii's office is right there across this very street!" She exclaimed, pointing to a building that really was just across the street. "Why would you say that you were still at home? And to think you even dressed up so prettily for him!"

"Touma said that he was too occupied with work and that he had to cancel lunch." Mikoto said, obviously just smiling through her disappointment. "I didn't want to make him feel too bad about canceling on me, so..."

"But you were really looking forward to this!" Ruiko reasoned. "It's been three days since you guys last saw each other right?I'll drag Touma-nii out of that damn office if I have to! You guys need to go on your lunch date!"

"Just...relax for a minute, okay, Ruiko?" Mikoto asked gently. "I don't want to cause trouble for Touma at work. And besides, we'll get to see each other later for dinner anyway! What do you think all our hard work earlier was for?"

"Mikoto-san..."

"It's okay..." Mikoto said with a smile and a shrug. "I'll be fine. I promise you, Touma and I will work things out between us later at dinner, okay? But for now, we need to get some lunch."

"But you look way too pretty to just have lunch with me! Seriously! Touma-nii..." Ruiko grumbled. "I'm going to give him a piece of my mind! Not seeing you for days and then just suddenly canceling plans on you just like that is horrible!"

"Maa, maa, I'm sure Touma has his reasons." Mikoto explained, placing her phone back in her bag. "So, where do you wanna have lunch? Since I made you run halfway across a district, I have the duty to treat you to anywhere you want! Ah, but I guess we should eat somewhere near your campus, so you won't be late."

"Food won't really solve my disappointment, Mikoto-san..." Ruiko sighed, but she just shook her head and smiled back at the older girl. "But...free food always did have a special place in my heart!"

"Great!" Mikoto answered cheerily. "So, where are we off to now?"

* * *

April 23, 6:48 pm

Something wasn't right.

Mikoto looked over at the wall clock, with new batteries of course, and checked the time. There was no doubt about it. Touma should have been off at 5, which is precisely an hour and 48-make that 49 minutes ago. It shouldn't take that much time for him to get to her place from work.

' _Ah, but he did sound quite busy...'_ Mikoto thought, crossing her arms over the counter top. ' _Maybe he did some overtime? But then he would've at least called me if he did! In normal relationships, the first thing you'd suspect is that the guy is having an affair, but with Touma, the only mistress he could possibly have a relationship with would be Misfortune itself.'_ She sighed, leaning her forehead across the cool marble. ' _If only he just asked for my help then-'_

Just as she was about to begin another soliloquy, another round of weird frog sounds caught her off guard. _'Maybe I really do need to change this ring tone...'_ She deadpanned, flipping the phone to answer it, not checking who the caller was.

"Hello? Misaka Mikoto speaking."

"Ara, ara, Mikoto-chan. You haven't even started work and you already sound like a sleep deprived, dead-on-the-inside doctor!" A cheery voice answered. Mikoto looked at the screen of the phone, seeing the words Mama flashing through it.

"Mama?" She asked disbelievingly. "It's rare for you to call. Is something the matter?"

"Ah, no no!" Misaka Misuzu hastily replied. "Nothing like that! I just have someone that wants to talk to you, so just hold up for a sec, okay, Mikoto-chan?"

"Uh, yeah sure..." Mikoto replied, suspicious of her mother's actions. She was probably up to no good aga-

"Hello? Mikoto-san?" A polite and gentle feminine voice said through the receiver. "It's been quite a while hasn't it?"

' _Ah, so that's it, huh? The both of them are in on something again...'_ Mikoto thought to herself as she sighed for the hundredth time that day. "It certainly has been a while, Shiina-san. Are you and Touya-san doing well? "

"We've been nothing else but fine, Mikoto-san, thank you for asking." Kamijou Shiina replied as gracefully as ever. "Touya-san has been quite upset ever since he was sent back here because he couldn't watch over Touma-san any longer, but we both feel quite reassured knowing that you'll be there to keep an eye out for him."

"It's quite the opposite, really. Touma has been taking care of me since I've been too preoccupied with so many things." The company that Touma is currently working in is a branch company of the one that his father, Kamijou Touya, works at. When it was established around two years ago, Touya had moved to Academy City for a while to oversee the functioning of the company, resulting to Touma's embarrassment of having been given weird amulets and charms whenever he crossed paths with his father at work. He only stayed for a year and a half though, before he had to move back outside of Academy City, letting a senior advisor along with the son of the President, Kurosawa (who happens to be Touma's boss) lead the branch themselves. "I hope I'm not being rude, but what are you doing with Mama, Shiina-san?"

"Mou! Mikoto-chan is always so formal!" Misuzu whined. "Ah, I forgot to say that you're on speaker phone okay? It's just me and Shiina here though."

"Being formal is only normal though, isn't it?"

"Fu fu fu." Shiina giggled. God, even her giggles sounded like the tinkling of bells. "You really don't have to be so formal with me, Mikoto-san. We're family after all!"

"F-family?!" Mikoto exclaimed, standing up from her chair. ' _What the- how did they even know? I already asked the girls to keep quiet about this! Was it Touma? Did that idiot seriously tell them?!_ '

"Why are you so surprised, Mikoto-san? You and my Touma-san have been together for quite some time now. Misuzu-san and myself are also well-acquainted with one another. We're practically family." Shiina explained. ' _Oh, it's just that...'_ Mikoto sighed, taking her seat.

"I'm sorry, I'm still not quite used to all this." Mikoto reasoned with a laugh. "Anyway, was there something you wanted to tell me, Shiina-san? And why are you with Mama again?"

"Mou, really, Mikoto-chan! I'm sleeping over at the Kamijou's tonight!"

"Huh? Why?"

"It would be quite the hassle if Touya-san had to drive all the way to our place to come and get me tomorrow, so Shiina and I decided to have a sleep over! Ah, but Touya-san is on his way home from work right now, so he isn't here. "

"Mama, just hold on a second." Mikoto said, pressing the bridge of her nose. "You're skipping on some very important details right now. Why would Touya-san have to drive all the way to our place for you? Are you guys going somewhere?"

"I do hope we wont bring in any unnecessary trouble, Mikoto-san. But we were planning on going to Academy City to visit you, Touma-san, and all the others as well tomorrow. If possible, we'd like to have dinner with everyone else as well."

' _Oh god. The mere thought of it already brings enough trouble as it is though!_ ' Mikoto thought, staring blankly for a few seconds, until the sound of Shiina's voice brought her back to reality.

"Mikoto-san?"

"Oh, yes, uh, sorry about that." Mikoto shook her head, trying to piece herself together. "It really won't be a bother to us at all, Shiina-san. You hardly visit Academy City after all."

"Shiinaaaa~ Mikoto-chan is being unfairly nice to you! I'm her mother!" Misuzu spoke once more. "She's never that nice to me whenever I come over!"

"That's because you always drop by unannounced." Mikoto reasoned.

"Being able to argue like you both are really is such a nice thing." Shiina giggled. "Touma-san hardly ever calls and when he does, it's always straight to the point and very business-like."

"Speaking of Touma, is he aware that you're coming over tomorrow, Shiina-san? He hasn't mentioned any of this to me."

"He wouldn't be able to tell you anything because he doesn't know yet, Mikoto-san. I was going to call him right after confirming with you first, but I was wondering if I would disturb him from his work. Touya-san mentioned that the Academy City branch is doing fairly well, but complications still tend to arise in the most stable situations." Shiina explained. _'Ah, if even Touya-san says so, then they really must be busy huh?_ ' Mikoto thought to herself as she looked at the clock and checked the time. It was 6:55 pm.

"Touma and I are actually planning on having dinner this evening, so if you want, I can just pass the message to him." Mikoto checked her phone to see if he had messaged her, but sadly there was none. "But he's still at work though. He must be working overtime again. He's been doing it for the past week."

"Ara, ara, I do hope that my Touma-san hasn't been making you feel lonely, Mikoto-san." Shiina said in complete and utter innocence, making Mikoto blush.

"N-no!" She vehemently denied. "It...I-it's not like I...I'm lonely or something!"

"We all know by now that you're a tsundere, Mikoto-chan..." Misuzu laughed, as Mikoto tried to bury her head in her arms which were crossed over the tabletop. "But don't worry about it! I'm sure Touma-kun is feeling just as lonely as you are! I'd bet he'd come running to you once he gets out from work like a starved man! A man starving for your presence that is."

"M-Mama! Please! Not in front of Shiina-san!" Mikoto begged, her face and neck completely red.

"No need to worry about it, Mikoto-san." Shiina said din a calm voice. "I'm quite sure that no one could ever doubt the depth of Touma-san's feelings for you. And I really couldn't be happier for him!"

' _Oh god, someone please just end this...'_ Mikoto thought, wanting this unbearable torture to end.

"Well, anyway, Mikoto-chan. Do you think you can get everyone together tomorrow? You don't have to worry about your Papa though. He's still going to be in Academy City for the rest of the week before he has to leave for some other country again."

"Ah, yeah, Papa did mention something like that. About tomorrow, if it's for dinner, then I guess I can get everyone." Mikoto thought as she tried to remember the schedules of the people she knew. "But if we're going to invite them all, I think it would be better if we just had it at my place rather than some restaurant. Things can get a little rowdy with our circle of friends." She said with a laugh. "Would you be okay with that? And for how long will you be here and where will you stay?"

"If possible, we wanted to stay until the 29th. Touya-san still has an apartment that he rents out there in Academy City, so we'll be staying there." Shiina answered.

"I want to stay with you, Mikoto-chan~!" Misuzu said cheerily.

"Wouldn't you rather stay with Papa though?" Mikoto placed the call in speaker as she made a memo of the things she needed to buy for tomorrow on her phone. "It's been a while since you guys spent some time with each other, might as well make the most of it while you're both here."

"I'm only staying for the first night, Mikoto-chan. No need to worry." Misuzu laughed. "I just want to have a sleep over with you! I'll be with Papa for the rest of my stay here, assuming that he's gonna stay long enough in Academy City, You know how demanding his job can get, after all."

"Okay then. I'll message everyone and have everything prepared. Ah, but I have some things to work on in the morning, so I might not be able to take you around. Will you be alright by yourselves?"

"We'll be fine, Mikoto-san." Shiina reassured. "Touya-san has worked in Academy City for a while, so I'm sure we'll be able to make our way through that ever changing city of yours. I'm sorry if we suddenly sprung this idea on you."

"It's quite alright, Shiina-san." Mikoto smiled, double checking her list. "It really has been a while since we all got together like this. The last time was when Touma graduated from college wasn't it?"

"These past two years really went by in a flash, I didn't realize it's been that long! Ah, do you need any help in preparing the food and other things, Mikoto-chan? Shiina and I can always come by in the afternoon to help out."

"I think I can manage somehow, Mama. But if you want, then you're free to come. I'm sure I'll be able to appreciate your help in a lot of things." Mikoto inwardly grimaced, thinking of all the things she had to do for tomorrow. "Is there anything else you need? Or any particular requests for the food and such?"

"Do you think you can get that special cheesecake from that French patisserie we went to before?" Misuzu asked. "That would save you the time of making dessert, and that cheesecake really is to die for!"

"Sure, I'll place an order and have it picked up by tomorrow. Anything else?"

"Hmm, nothing else comes to mind really. How about you, Shiina?"

"I don't really have anything in particular in mind. Thank you for everything, Mikoto-san, and sorry for the bother. Please take care of Touma-san!" Shiina bade.

"Well, I guess that's it! Have fun with your dinner date, Mikoto-chan!"

"Yeah, sure. See you tomorrow, Mama." Mikoto said, dropping the could only sigh before opening up her browser and searched for the website of the French patisserie that Misuzu had mentioned, placing an order online. Once she was done, she started sending out a group message to everyone she wanted to invite, but as she was typing it, Touma's caller ID suddenly popped up. Mikoto couldn't help the giddy feeling bubbling up in her stomach as she answered the call.

"Well it's about damn time you called, idiot." She greeted, feigning annoyance. "It's past 7 already! Where are you? You-"

"Uh...I'm really sorry Mikoto..." Touma replied, readily setting off the alarm bells in Mikoto's head. She didn't like his tone of voice, and when he didn't speak after muttering his apology, Mikoto could only shake her head in disappointment.

"You can't make it, can you?" She asked, breaking the silence.

"I...I'm really sorry." Even though he technically didn't answer her question, his apology felt more hurtful than the confirmation itself. "I thought I'd be able to finish this off but work just keeps on piling up, I can't even...I'm just...I'm really sorry Mikoto..." Hearing the sadness in his voice, Mikoto couldn't bear to make him feel any more guilty. After taking a deep breath, Mikoto smiled and did her best to sound as normal as she could.

"It can't be helped now can it?" She said, looking over to the dinner for two placed sadly on the table. "Just try not to overwork yourself, alright?"

"Mikoto, I'm really sorry for canceling on you twice today, I really didn't-"

"Touma, relax. I'm not mad. I'm probably just going to be as busy when I start working, so we may as well get used to this now." She said, tightening her grip on her skirt. "Ah, but Mama and Shiina-san called me earlier. They plan on staying in Academy City for a week starting tomorrow and they wanted to have dinner with all of us tomorrow. I was planning on having it here in my place."

"They're coming here?" Touma questioned, surprise evident in his voice. "Ah, we should make the announcement tomorrow then!"

"Announcement? What announcement?"

"About our engagement of course!" Touma replied, his voice sounding genuinely happy for the first time in days. "But you have to ask Kuroko and the other girls to keep quiet about it, alright? If Okaa-san is coming, then I'm pretty sure Otou-san will be tagging along with her. Will Tabigake-san be there too?" Mikoto couldn't help but smile at the man's obvious pleasure.

"Mama wanted to invite him, so I'm pretty sure he'd raise heaven and hell just to get there tomorrow." She joked.

"That's great then! Do you need help with anything? Any errands I can run while I'm out here in the city?"

"Ah, then could you pick up the cake? I'll send you the address later. It's already paid for, so you just have to tell them my name. I'm gonna do the shopping once I'm done with a few other errands, but I might need an extra pair of hands with the cooking. Can you make it? The party is at 6, by the way."

"Hmm, I think I can do the cake thing. But I'll have to ask Kurosawa if he can let me off earlier tomorrow so I can help with the cooking."

"You don't have to do so if it's going to cause trouble for you alright?" Worry started to eat at Mikoto's mind, thinking of the many possible scenarios that could happen if Touma's troubles at work increased. "Shiina-san said that Touya-san mentioned something about conflicts at work, try not to-"

"Did they say anything?!" Touma exclaimed, his voice devoid of all the happiness it had before. "Did Otou-san or Okaa-san mention anything specific or-"

"They didn't say anything, Touma." Mikoto replied in a flat voice. _'I wish they did though, so I can finally understand what the hell is going on with you...'_ She thought.

"A-ah...okay then." He said, the tension in his voice slowly fading. "So...just the cake and the cooking then? Anything else?"

"Please just try to be here, Touma." She said, wincing when she noticed how desperate she sounded. "If...I mean, if we're going to make the announcement about our engagement, then we both have to be there. I can't do it on my own, so please be here okay?"

The line remained silent for a bit, before Touma finally spoke.

"I promise, I'll be there, Mikoto..." He said softly. "I know that I shouldn't leave things like this, but I really have to get back to work now. I'm so sorry, Mikoto. I'll message you when I get back, okay?" Touma dropped the call without even waiting for a response. Not that she knew what to respond with anyway. As the annoying beeps of the dead call line resounded in her ears, Mikoto locked her phone, standing up and taking one plate of food from the table and placing it in a container. Once it was in her refrigerator, Mikoto dumped the dirty plate onto her sink. She turned the knob on, letting the water run through it's surface as she simply stared at it, until her vision slowly blurred as several drops of water that weren't from the faucet fell unto the sink.

"Ah~ ah~ I guess I really am lonely huh?" She said in a broken voice, the sound of the running water drowning out her sobs.

-chapter end-

 **Yeah, getting stood up twice in a day must really suck. Not that I'd know anyway. Yeah, still don't proofread anything. Tell me what you think okay? Till next time!**


	6. Chapter 5

**I just realized how difficult it is to write a story that has exact dates. The last time I ever wrote this was almost a year ago. I had a hard time looking for the notebook where I jotted down the events that happened each day. And when I finally found it, this story has specific events that happen each day from April 19 to May 2. What the hell men. What was the cupcakes of before thinking? As lazy as you are, did you seriously think that schedule would make sense to the future you?**

 **But since I kinda like the flow of it, I'll keep at it. But just a small disclaimer, I haven't written anything in a while, and I might suck (I probably will) at it, as I am now. But please bear with me.**

 **I just realized this now, but wouldn't most people be mad as hell about being stood up twice?**

Chapter 5:

April 24, 10:42 am

"What am I doing with myself? Seriously..."

Misaka Mikoto sighed as she stared at the ceiling of her room. Slivers of bright sunlight were peeking through the gaps in her curtains, bringing some light to her over-all dark bedroom.

"Ah. That's right. Mama and the others are coming over today. I need to prepare for dinner." She reminded herself as she stood up and walked over to her bathroom, fumbling around for the light switch. Once it was on, she squinted her eyes from the brightness, giving herself a few seconds to adjust. She bent over the sink and washed her face with water, but as she straightened up to look for a towel, she was shocked to see her face in the mirror.

"God, I look ridiculous." She muttered, touching the dark circles, paired with the redness of her eyes which were all irrefutable proof of her lack of sleep from crying too much. "He goes on and decides to keep a secret from me like this and I end up as a total mess. Since when did I become so weak-willed?"

She stared at her reflection for a while longer before going on with her morning ritual. Once she was done, Mikoto walked back to her room and saw her phone blinking. Taking a deep breath, she unlocked it and looked through her unread messages, that were numbering at 7 in total.

From: Shirai Kuroko

Received: April 23, 10:14 pm

Body: Of course I'd be thrilled to attend! Why would I pass up on the chance to meet Onee-sama's parents? The only con is the presence of a certain barbarian, but surely your presence will overwhelm his! I've already asked Keisuke and he said he's free tomorrow evening as well, so we'll head there together. With lots of love, Kuroko.

"That girl never changes huh?" Mikoto smiled to herself as she typed her reply. "The presence of a certain barbarian, huh? It'd be good if he could make it, as busy as he is..."

From: Saten Ruiko

Received: April 23, 10:20 pm

Body: YOU'RE GONNA DO THE ANNOUNCEMENT RIGHT? HELL YEAH I'LL BE THERE! Wouldn't miss it for the world! Oh my god! I need to be mentally prepared for anything and everything!

' _Uhh, how about you try not to prepare for anything?'_ Mikoto thought to herself with a smile. She was about read the next message until she quickly noticed that Ruiko had actually sent two replies to her.

From: Saten Ruiko

Received: April 23, 10:22 pm

Body: If we're having a party with both families, then it means you must've talked it over huh? That's great! See? Isn't it so much better when you're honest with each other!

"I really wish we were honest with each other, Ruiko...I really do..." she paused, before reading the other messages.

From: Uiharu Kazari

Received: April 24, 7:03 am

Body: I'm so sorry for the late reply, Mikoto-san! Exams and projects have been creeping on us like crazy! I don't know how you survived condensing all your studies in just 2 years! But I'd love to join you! I can't wait to see Misuzu-san and the rest!

Mikoto chuckled at the younger girl's reply. So even with being a fourth year computer engineering student, she's still as cheery as ever.

From: Mama

Received: April 24, 7:28 am

Body: See you later Mikoto-chan~!

Along with the message was a picture of her mother, Shiina and Touya inside a car together. Mikoto smiled, seeing the smile on her mother's face. "She really does get along with Shiina-san and Touya-san huh?"

From: Tanaka Koutaro

Received: April 24, 7:30 am

Body:

Dear Misaka Mikoto-sensei,

Well, well, well. Did that header make your heart flutter? You'll be officially employed in a week after all! I'm not one for much formalities so enjoy the only formal e-mail you'll ever receive from me, unless you get fired of course.

Alas, there are still some formalities we need to go over with regards to your employment. Could you come over to the hospital today to get them over with? The director mentioned something about a party later this evening, so you might want to come at an earlier time. Please reply to this message as soon as you can!

"Hmm...Is replying three hours after I received the message considered late? Well...it's not like I can do anything about it now." She thought out loud as she tried to compose a proper response.

To: Tanaka Koutaro

Body: Dear Tanaka-sensei, please pardon my late reply. I'll drop by the hospital later at around 12. Thank you for notifying me, and see you later.

Once she pressed Send, Mikoto stared at the time noticing that it was 10:56 am. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to her window and opened her curtains, letting in all the blocked sunshine into her room. She slapped her cheeks once, twice, before puffing out her chest and taking another deep breath.

"Get a grip, Misaka Mikoto!" She barked at herself. "You're a doctor now! You're parents and friends are coming over later! You have so many things to do! You don't have the time to sulk and cry! You'll talk things over with Touma later and settle things once and for all!" Once she felt like she had enough resolution to last the day, she stormed off to her bathroom once more, not noticing that she still had one more message left unread.

* * *

April 24, 11:45 am

"Well, it's nice to see that you being late really is just a one time thing, dearie." Miyabi Miho said as Mikoto walked over to the reception desk. "You're scheduled at 12:00 nn aren't you?"

"Yes, I am." Mikoto smiled at the kind woman. "Did Tanaka-sensei say anything about his meeting with me?"

"No, no, it's not that." Miho waved. "You see, Tanaka-sensei doesn't really schedule anything during his lunch break. He always spends it with the kids, so he rejects any meeting or conference of the sort scheduled around that time."

"Huh? Really? Then why did he say yes when I said I'd be around at 12?" Mikoto questioned.

"I wouldn't really know, dear. But I must say." She smiled, looking at Mikoto from head to toe. "You really do look so much more like a doctor now that I look at you, Misaka Mikoto-sensei. When I heard that the Director Misaka's daughter was going to work here, I always thought that you'd be too young. I've seen you from pictures, you see. And really, a doctor at the age of 24? That's amazing!"

"Well, I had my reasons...for skipping years." Mikoto laughed. "I really am young, you're not wrong about that though. But I assure you that I understand the importance of maturity in this field, and I'm confident in my mindset in that aspect."

"Oh come now!" Miho said, patting her shoulder. "All this talk about maturity and other things! I'm saying this as someone older and who's been through a lot in life, but don't say you're mature when you're not really sure yourself. There are some circumstances in life that will force us to be mature, but that doesn't mean that we really are. The sooner you realize this fact, the better."

"I appreciate the thought, Miho-san, but really, if it's just work ethics then-"

"Oh, I'm not talking about work, sweetie." Miho gently cupped Mkoto's cheeks in her hands, the gentle smile on her face never fading. "I'm talking about you. You're gonna have to look for a better concealer brand if you think that that's gonna hide your panda eyes from an old woman like me."

"B..but this is..."

"Giving out life counseling already, Miho-san?" Came a male voice, making the two females look over at him. "Give the newbie a break. She hasn't even started working here yet. Must you really impart her with your elderly wisdom?"

' _Oh god.'_ Mikoto thought. _'Here comes the headache.'_

"It's better if it came from me than a weirdo like you, Tanaka-sensei." Miho put her hands to her hips and breathed out a sigh. "I do hope Kiyomi-chan takes after Kaori-san and not you."

"Hurtful words, oh wise nurse, hurtful words indeed." Tanaka joked, patting his chest. "Anyway, didn't take you for a late riser, Misaka Mikoto-sensei. I almost thought you disliked me and didn't want to reply to my message."

"My likes or dislikes should have nothing to do with the way I handle work, Tanaka-sensei." Mikoto answered. "And you said yourself that you disliked formalities, so you don't have to call me Misaka Mikoto-sensei, Tanaka-sensei. Feel free to call me however is more comfortable for you."

"Then why don't I call you by name, Mikoto?" Tanaka asked.

"Aren't you skipping way too many levels there, sensei?" Miho questioned with narrowed eyes. "Suddenly calling her by her first name like that? She's an unmarried woman for goodness' sake! What if people have the wrong idea?"

"I don't think it's too much a problem, Miho-san." Mikoto smiled at her. "I mean, Tanaka-sensei is married and he even has a child. I'm sure that those around me won't make too much of a fuss with him calling me by name. Ah, but I'd appreciate it if you could call me by first name too, since I already address you as Miho-san."

"Hey now..." Tanaka whined. "I kinda feel left out. You should call me by name too, Mikoto. Everyone that works here in this facility is like family after all!"

"I'd really rather not be related to a weird person like you, sensei." Miho jabbed. "But well, I guess you're right about us being a family. No need to be so concerned with ranks in this place, Mikoto-chan."

"Ah, thank you very mu-"

"Well, now then!" Tanaka said, placing his hand on Mikoto's shoulder and guiding her towards one of the halls. "Onwards! To meet the other members of this family! See you later, Miho-san!"

"I hope you have fun, Mikoto-chan! You better not do anything weird, sensei!" Miho called back as she waved at their retreating figures.

"Who would do something weird? Really, that old bat." Tanaka muttered, letting go of Mikoto and scratching his head. "Well, that aside. You do remember my full name, don't you? I'm sure it was in the message I sent you earlier?"

"Of course I do. I remember it because it seemed like such a proper, serious sounding name, it-"

"It suits me right?" Tanaka interrupted before laughing.

' _Like hell it suits you! Apologize to all the Koutaro's in the world!'_ Mikoto thought to herself. "Ehem, moving on. It's Tanaka Koutaro-sensei right?"

"That's right, so I'd appreciate it if you called me Koutaro, Mikoto. You don't have to be formal with me." Tanaka said in a more serious tone, surprising Mikoto. "Anyway,as you can see, for a research facility, this place is quite large, wouldn't you say? But of course, this is so we can accommodate patients like a regular hospital. Not just MD patients, though. We also have special wards in the lower-level sections of the building."

"What other kinds of patients do you have then?And lower wards? Why would you put patients in the lower levels?"

"That...is something you'll probably find out soon, but please just leave it at that for now." Tanaka somehow seemed hesitant to answer her, but he soon picked up his usual tone. "That aside, for a facility this large, there aren't too many staff here if you've noticed."

"Is it because this facility particularly specializes in MD?" Mikoto asked. Tanaka looked back at her and assessed her reaction.

"So your grades weren't just numbers huh?" Tanaka shrugged. "Yeah, that's right. MD is seen as a lost cause in the field of medicine. Years and years of research, but nothing of importance has come up recently. I don't know what compelled you to major in MD, but I'm really thankful for it-"

"Don't be." She said in a harsh tone. "I've already decided to do this. I'm not doing this because someone else forced me into it, it's purely my decision. But the reason for this really isn't something to be thankful for. I don't regret it, far from it really, but even after several years,I can't bring myself to be thankful about it." Tanaka watched her from the corner of his eyes, seeing the seriousness in her expression.

"Is that so? I'm sorry then." He said after a few seconds of silence. "But I do hope you understand where I'm coming from. A lot of children are suffering right now because of MD, but those with the ability and the brains to help them choose other fields to work in simply because it's more practical to do so. I don't blame them, but it's disappointing, really. This is simply a personal belief, but doctors, especially the particularly talented ones, should devote their attention to such lost causes."

"Are you saying that doctors should be more empathetic towards the suffering of others?"

"They way you said it makes it sound like a negative thing." He chuckled. "But well, I guess that is one way of putting it. But I want you to interpret it more as something like this: it was called a lost cause for a reason. After all, it's just lost. All you have to do is find it. Speaking from a researcher's or an intellectual's point of view, shouldn't the prospect of looking for things that have been lost in the eyes of mankind be fulfilling?" Tanaka suddenly stopped walking and walked over to a metal door, opening it for her. "Ladies first?" He asked, gesturing for her to go inside.

Mikoto looked at him weirdly before taking the first step forward. The dark room she walked into was like an odd hallway that simply had a few benches on the left side and a door on the other end.

"What is this? Some kind of waiting room?" She asked, turning around and facing Tanaka who was just standing near the frame of the door, fumbling for the light switch.

"Mikoto, walk over to the right wall please. Just keep staring at it, and you'll understand what I mean." He ordered. Mikoto did as he asked. She didn't understand the point of it, but everything suddenly made sense when he switched the lights on. Her hands clenched into fists, as her face visibly paled.

"I knew it. So you do remember." Tanaka said as she walked towards her. He placed a hand on the railings and looked out the wall, which happened to be a one-sided mirror. Beyond it was the rehabilitation room wherein kids with MD were undergoing physical therapy. "This place is a lot more homey and comfortable than the last facility, so I thought that maybe you wouldn't react this way when you see it."

"W-what are you..." Mikoto muttered, as her voice broke.

"Despite all the alterations I did, I guess it still ended up looking similar huh?"

"WHAT ARE YOU-!"

"How many years has it been, Misaka Mikoto-san?" Tanaka asked, his expression remorseful and sad and twisted in despair. "Fifteen? Twenty? Due to psychological trauma, I've been unable to properly keep track of time with regards to that event. Pathetic, aren't I?"

"You...don't tell me...why are you..." Mikoto didn't know what to feel as she stared at the man who stood before her in regret. "Please don't tell me..."

"I'm sorry." He said simply. "Director Tabigake left it up to me whether to tell you or not. I'm not sure if you'll still be willing to work with me right now, but I wanted to be honest with you, in the same way I wanted to apologize to you for everything as well. Misaka Mikoto-san..." Tanaka turned to face Mikoto properly, looking at her right in the eye. "I was part of the Radio Noise project all those years ago." Mikoto couldn't even remember to breathe as she heard his words. "I was just a high school student back then, but I was a prodigy in terms of research and medicinal studies."

"You went along with those bastards?!" Mikoto bit out angrily. "Those fuckers who pretended to be kind doctors concerned with those kids?! No...wait...Don't tell me..." She took a step back, the look of horror and fear prominent on her features. "Is this...is this facility another one of those shitty labs?!"

"It's not!" Tanaka defended. "Think about this clearly! Your father is the head of this place! Do you really think that your father would do that?!" Mikoto just kept shaking her head as her knees grew weak and she fell to the floor. "Are you alright?! Mikoto?!" He asked, kneeling in front of her.

"I...I'm sorry... You're right..." Mikoto breathed out. "Papa would never do that... He would never..." Tanaka stared at Mikoto as she tried to calm herself down.

"Why don't you take a seat first?" He offered as he helped her get up and guided her to one of the benches on the other side of the wall. Once they were both seated, he waited for a few more seconds before speaking up once more. "I'm not here to ask for your forgiveness because I know I'll never deserve it. But could you listen to me for a bit?" When Mikoto said nothing in response, he took it as his cue to speak.

"Everything is as I said. I was a high school student around that time. They asked my help for researching MD. I was just a curious kid back then who knew nothing of the dirty ways adults dealt with life. So I agreed and joined the team. I felt like an adult with a purpose, someone who was doing great things, even though I was no more a kid than you were.

I saw you, you know? I wasn't part of the team sent to convince you, but I was there. I watched the entire exchange, and I was honestly amazed by you, agreeing to help like that. Once we started the research and experimentation, I began to notice a few weird things, but the adults just brushed me off. It slowly got to the point wherein I more or less had an idea of what we were truly doing." Tanaka paused for a while, staring into space before he spoke again.

"It was clones. We were researching your clones. If that wasn't bad enough, I found out that the entire thing about curing MD was just a lie. I felt so stupid. You gave your DNA with the hopes of helping those poor kids, but those fuckers, as you so generously called them, were researching other things. I complained to them of course. But they just threw me out. ' _You're not really that special of a mind_ ' they said. It wasn't a loss to them if I was kicked out. I tried telling the authorities but somehow, nothing happened. That was when I realized that I was just a powerless child.

Stupid and spineless as I was, I stopped going to school, dropped out and became a total recluse. It got worse when I got curious one time and tried to find out what they were doing with the clones, but that information isn't easy to come by once you've been black listed by their side. A few years later, I stumbled upon the Level 6 shift experiment. And that was what did me in. I suffered depression, became suicidal, developed a fear of people. That was when my trauma manifested. I can never keep track of time with respect to my days as a researcher. I'm not really sure how many years ago it was. I always felt like it was literally just yesterday, but in reality it had been years. I spent year after year hiding in fear. Thankfully, my parents were kind doctors so they never abandoned me."

"But you're...a proper doctor now." Mikoto spoke. "Why...did you decide to walk on the path you're on right now?"

"Ah...well, that huh." Tanaka mused as he looked out on the children. "I started picking myself up around 11 years ago, I guess. I've been with my wife for 11 years now after all, though we only married 5 years ago."

"Eleven years ago?"

"You're turning 25 this year aren't you? Then how old were you eleven years ago, Mikoto?"

"Well...I was fourteen I guess? But what..." Mikoto's eyes widened with realization. "The year I found out about my Sisters... I was 14 when I found out about them!"

"That's right. Eleven years ago, the fact that several research facilities were being burned down and destroyed one after the other was all over the news. I remember those facilities were concerned with the project, so I was a bit relieved to know that someone was brave enough to go against Academy City. That someone was brave enough to do something that I wasn't able to do. I was curious to know who did them, but I was still as cowardly as ever. That was until I saw a bright flash of electricity from the room I was holed up in." Mikoto knew that he was probably referring to that time on the bridge with Touma, but she kept quiet about it. No one is supposed to know about what they've done after all. Tanaka was gauging her reaction, so when she didn't say anything, he went on.

"I knew you were the strongest electromaster in Academy City. That amount of electrical discharge couldn't have been done by just anyone. It was then that I felt ashamed again. Was the little girl I saw back then really responsible for terrorizing Academy City and correcting the mistakes of all those heinous researchers, myself included? The next day, I gathered up the courage to step outside for the first time in god knows how many years. I went over to the Academy City General Hospital, since I kind of figured that that would be the only place where the clones would be taken to. I was just stalling outside the whole day, not having the courage to step inside and look for you. I was worried about you, you know? In my mind, you were this little girl who naively believed the words of those two-faced bastards. How could you come out of that unscathed? I was just about to give up when I heard similar voices talking." Tanaka looked over at her and their eyes met. He was smiling fondly at her, as if remembering these things was a fond memory for him.

"A girl was there, she was right there in front of me, beside an injured clone of herself. I then realized that it was you. You, as in the little girl I had in mind. So many years had passed, I mean, just by simply looking at how much you'd grown. You weren't a little girl anymore. You were acting like an older sister towards your clone. When I saw how the two of you interacted, I foolishly ran to my old high school and asked them how I could continue with my education. The girl in my memory had moved on with her life, but I was still the same loser I was years prior to that. I wanted to change that. So in that year, I took an exam to earn my high school diploma and entered university. There I met my wife, Kaori, and began to move on with my life little by little. And now, here we are."

Silence ensued as Tanaka finished his story. They both simply watched the struggling children below, but this time, Mikoto noticed, rather then the desperation she saw as a child, this place was much warmer and was filled with hope.

"Why did you tell me that you didn't know my reasons for specializing in MD?" Mikoto asked. "Tell me the truth. You never really planned on telling me anything, did you?"

"To be honest? I never really decided on anything. When I heard from Tabigake-san a week ago that his daughter would be coming here, I asked for your name and he told me it was Misaka Mikoto. I never knew that Tabigake-san was your father, so I was really surprised. And for some reason, I ended up telling him the truth."

"How would you not know that he was my father? Didn't you do a background check on me from before or anything like that?"

"I didn't handle the files that were related to you back then. And frankly, I was scared to know more about you. I did think about finding you to apologize, but I never really could do it. So I just decided that I would never look for you, and as life would have it, you came to me instead. Or maybe I was brought to you?" Tanaka mused.

"You decided to never look for me? The hell?"

"I felt like I didn't deserve it. I didn't deserve your forgiveness. The fact that I was able to stand back up from my depression, and the fact that I met Kaori and the fact that I now have a family of my own, alongside this hospital...it's already too much of a blessing for a coward like me. Wanting your pardon, alongside meeting you once more, I felt like wishing for those things might ruin the peace that you've made for yourself. I was fine with living the rest of my life carrying this burden of a truth, just as long as I could prevent you from facing any more trouble." Tanaka said in a sentimental tone. He then looked at Mikoto and smiled at her before patting her head. "But well, that all changed after I heard your conversation with Miho-san, along with the way you responded to me about you reason for wanting to study MD."

"With Miho-san?" Mikoto asked. "The one about maturity?"

"That's right." Tanaka nodded in affirmation. "After hearing that, I began to doubt what I thought all this time. They way you responded to me earlier cemented it." Tanaka stood up and stood in front of Mikoto, before kneeling down and placing his hand on her shoulder. "Mikoto, you're not at peace, are you?" He asked in a surprisingly gentle tone. "Even after everything, you still haven't accepted everything for what they are, have you?"

"What are you... I accepted my Sister's existence a long time ago! I-"

"So you accept their creation, is that right?" Tanaka sighed before standing up and walking over to the railings and looking out on the kids. "Mikoto, that isn't everything to their existence you know?"

"What the hell are you saying? What's more to them that I need to accept?"

"Don't pretend that you don't know what I'm talking about, Mikoto. You know very well what I mean."

"Well I'm saying I don't!" She shouted standing up. "What _do you_ mean?!" He turned around, crossed his arms and looked at maintained eye contact with her once more which unnerved her a bit.

"Alongside accepting the responsibility for the creation and existence of the ten thousand Misaka clones comes the acceptance of the death of the other ten thousand." Mikoto stiffened with his words. As she turned away from him. "See? I'm right aren't I? I'm not saying that you're responsible for their deaths, Mikoto. You should never feel that the death of any of them is your fault. But you need to accept the fact that they did die, and that life will never go the way you want to. You can't control everything around them. Their life is one thing, but you need to accept their deaths too, Mikoto."

"Why are you telling me all this?" She muttered lowly. "What do you think gives you the right to tell me this?!" She added in a louder tone.

"I'm saying this because I don't mind being hated by you. I deserve it, Mikoto. Since I'm fine with being hated, I want you to face the reality of things even if it makes you despise me. You may not believe me, but I really am saying this for your sake."

"Why are you..." Mikoto was at a loss for words as she slowly lowered her gaze and brushed her hair back. "Saying that won't really make me feel better about anything...idiot..." She said in a whisper-like voice after several moments of silence. Tanaka could only sigh before stepping forward and chopping her once on the head.

"If you're still talking to me like that, then I guess that means you've accepted me as a colleague in work at least. As I said before, everyone in this facility is like family, but you're free to think of me however you want. I do apologize for springing this on you, but it's not like I'm pressuring you to conform with my ideals. I'm telling you this because I feel like I'm indebted to you, more than I can ever repay. After all, I owe my current life and happiness to you." He said with a smile. "With that being said, you have about five minutes to mentally get yourself together." He said walking towards the other end of the room. "This room is designed to be a viewing room for parents. Most kids don't want their parents to see them suffering you see. But the parents still want to watch, since we don't want to stress the kids out mentally or emotionally, we had this viewing room built. The kids don't know about it. It's also designed to be a five minute walk from the general lobby, so the guardians have 5 minutes to calm themselves and face the kids with a smile." He explained as they went out the other door and walked down a few set of stairs.

"Seems like you had all this sorted out to accommodate everyone huh?" Mikoto asked as they neared the lobby.

"Well, I do have experience in this field from way back then. I'm just putting it to good use, rather than just brooding over things." Tanaka shrugged as he held onto the knob of the door which led to the rehabilitation room. "Take a deep breath and smile, Misaka Mikoto-sensei. I'm about to introduce you to your new family after all!"

* * *

April 24, 3:38 pm

"Mama, seriously, I'm fine. Just go enjoy sight-seeing with the Kamijou's alright?"

"But Mikoto-chan!" Misuzu's voice whined from Mikoto's phone that was placed on the kitchen counter. "Are you really sure you can handle everything? You weren't able to prepare anything in advance, right?"

"It's fine, Mama." Mikoto answered as she was cutting some vegetables. "I ordered most of the food, and they're scheduled to come in an hour and a half. All I need to do are some basic side dishes and a bit of cleaning. Everything's fine, so just go and enjoy, okay?"

"Well...if you really insist on it." Misuzu caved in, despite the worry still in her voice. "Don't stress yourself out too much and call us if you ever need anything else okay?"

"Yes, Mama. I will...uh-huh...yes, I know. I told you, I'm fine. I'll see you later okay? Bye." Mikoto could only sigh as she heard the sound of the call being dropped. She stared at the half-cut vegetables on her counter, promptly letting go of the knife she held in her hand. "I'm fine...huh? What the hell am I doing..." She asked herself as she slid down onto the floor. "Tanaka...Koutaro-sensei was part of that fucked up project... Papa knew about it a week ago, but he never told me...Touma's hiding something from me...and now, my friend's and family are coming over for a party... A surprise engagement party at that... A party to celebrate my engagement to someone I'm not currently on good terms with." She leaned her head forward until it collided with the base of the counter. "Just how fucked up can a person's life be?"

 _What the hell, Mikoto?_

 _You're 24 already. You should be used to how difficult life can be. You've been through worse. You've lived through so much worse. How is this any different? The whole Sister's project was years ago. They're all living fine lives now. Papa probably hoped that you'd be mature enough to work with Tanaka-sensei, that's why he never said anything about it. I mean, he didn't tell you he was the director, right? It's almost the same thing!_

 _And that goes for the thing with Touma too! Yeah he's an idiot, but he's not dumb, Mikoto. You know him. You should know better than that. You both have careers now. So what if he's a little busy with work? He's always supported you through your hell weeks in uni, didn't he? Why can't you just do the same for him? Being lonely just because you-_

Mikoto was snapped out of her reverie when she heard the sound of an incoming message from her phone. Unknowingly, a smile came over her face as she scrambled up to grab it, knocking over some of the ingredients on the counter but she didn't care.

From: Papa

Received: 3:45 pm

Body: I've heard from Tanaka. Sorry I wasn't able to tell you anything beforehand. I thought that it was something that he needed to say himself. We should talk bout this later in person, but I'm just glad that you've decided to continue with your employment there. I'll see you later, Mikoto-chan.

Her smile slowly faded away as she read her father's message. _'What the hell are you getting so disappointed for? He's your father for god's sake! Your father!'_ She reprimanded herself as she typed in her reply. Once she was done, however, she noticed another pop-up message that read "You have 1 unread message (6:17 am)"

From: Kamijou Touma (Idiot)

Received: April 24, 6:17 am

Body: I'm really sorry about yesterday, BiriBiri. I'm not sure if you're awake yet, but try to get as much sleep as you can and remember to eat your meals, okay? Don't push yourself too hard. If you ever need anything, just call me okay? I promise I'll come running. Really, just call me. Have a great day!

Mikoto stared at Touma's message, reading it over and over and over again, to the point that she memorized every character in the text. _See? Isn't it so much better when you're honest with each other!_ Ruiko's words resounded in her mind as she slowly curled herself into a ball, tapping on her phone to dial his number and brought it to her ear, hearing the rings of the call.

' _It should be fine...right? He said it was alright to call him. He said it's fine. I can tell him anything. This is Touma we're talking about. He wouldn't judge me...even if feel frustrated over things. He'd just listen to me and comfort me right? I can talk to him, right? I can depend on you, right, Touma?'_

Ring after ring after ring, Mikoto simply waited, her anxiety rising up as her heart beat faster each time she heard the sound. Her grip on her phone tightened, until the sound stopped and was replaced with the sound of a connecting line.

"T-touma! I-!" She said, her voice breaking.

"The number you have dialed is currently unavailable right now. Please try calling again later. The number you have dialed is currently unavailable-" Mikoto pressed the end call button, before roughly rubbing her forearms against her eyes. She took a deep breath before standing up and placing her phone back on the counter. Raising her arms to slap both of her cheeks, she grabbed the knife and once again began her preparations, chopping and mincing the poor vegetables vigorously.

"What the hell was I thinking? Of course he can't answer the call. He's working right now. He must be busy with a lot of things. I really shouldn't be adding to problems." She said aloud, as if trying to convince someone other than herself. "It's fine. I can handle this. I can do this. I'm okay." The ferocity of her knife-handling slowed down little by little until it completely stopped, as her gaze lost it's focus.

' _But he promised...'_

* * *

April 24, 5:46 pm

"It really has been such a long time since we've all been together like this!" Misuzu spoke happily as everyone gathered around in Mikoto's living room.

"All of us here that stay in Academy City are just happy that you and the Kamijou's have been well, Misuzu-sama." Kuroko replied with a smile. "You really should visit more often! Maybe next time we can all go out on a trip somewhere."

"That sounds like a fine idea, Kuroko-san." Shiina said, entering the conversation as she sat beside her husband. "Will we be hearing wedding bells soon from you and Keisuke-san?"

' _Ah, here comes the wedding topic...'_ Mikoto mused to herself as she set down the pitcher of juice on the table. She saw how Kuroko's face turned red as she frantically waved her hands in front of her.

"That's-!...Surely not...well...uh..." she rambled on as everyone in the room just watched her with knowing smiles.

"Ah, well, if you'd allow me to speak, Shiina-sama." Keisuke said with his signature smile, placing an arm around Kuroko and looking at her kindly making the poor girl blush even more. "Both our parents have confronted us about that but Kuroko-san and I both think that there's no need to rush into things. We're fine with taking our time and seeing just how vast reality really is before facing each other in marriage." Everyone couldn't help but melt just a little with Keisuke's every word. "Ah, but well, I wouldn't mind getting married to her right this very moment. It would give me the chance to love, cherish and care for her more than anyone else in the world after all." He added sheepishly, hints of red dusting his cheeks.

"W-what are...why are you...ughhhhh" Kuroko muttered incoherently as she buried her face in her hands, the tips of her ears bright red with embarrassment.

"It's rare to see a guy like that nowadays huh?" Tabigake commented as he watched the pair that sat directly in front of him.

"Sure is." Touya chided, a laugh in his voice. "Better make sure to keep a tight leash on him, Kuroko-chan. Don't let that one get away."

"Oh my god, can you please not be so sweet?!" Ruiko exclaimed, her grin stuck to her face. "I'm dying here. DYING, I TELL YOU!" She added, crushing one of the pillows to her chest before pulling Kazari, who was also red in the face from her romantic delusions, into her frantic antics.

"It sure is good to be young, huh?" Misuzu sighed as she leaned her face onto her hand, while Shiina giggled quietly in affirmation. "Ah, that aside, Touma-kun sure is late, isn't he?"

"Ah, well, sorry about that son of mine." Touya apologized. "Work is probably quite hectic right now for him. I've heard that a new firm had opened up a while ago and has been encroaching on their clients. From what I know, the Gatenjou's asked for a reconsideration even though they already had a prior agreement."

"The Gatenjou's huh?" Tabigake thought aloud. "I haven't really interacted with them, bu they really seem to be quite the precocious bunch. They're not really the loyal kind. They probably received an offer from the new company that gave enough benefits for them to want to reconsider."

"But they're new, right?" Kazari asked. "I'm not really sure if it's the same for business management, but in my field, you really have to start small. Not many big names would take on new names in exchange for their old partners, no matter how appealing their incentives are?"

"That's only applicable if the incentive is strictly for business." Kuroko answered. "it would be an entirely different matter id they introduced something that could be beneficial both personally and financially."

"What kind of incentive would that be then?" Ruiko questioned.

"It's probably marriage." Touya took a sip from his juice as the attention of the younger girls were focused on him. "The Gatenjou's only have a single male heir and he's unmarried. I don't mean to judge him, but he's rather...how would you say this..."

"Let me guess..." Kuroko spoke up. "He's a selfish, self-important brute that thinks he's the king of the world because of his money? I'm willing to bet that they girl they offered to him was a young, pretty, mild-mannered daughter of some previously failed business magnate of the new firm."

"Can you please not talk about something as unpleasant as business?" Mikoto intervened as the mood got a little off. "Seriously. This is the first time we've all met up in years and you're talking about the gritty details of the business industry."

"Well as for me, I'm just thankful that I was born into a family outside of all that business stuff." Ruiko picked up her glass and raised it. "This might be a bit early, but how about we toast to the peaceful happiness we all have right now?"

"Toasting with just juice is quite sad, isn't it?" Tabigake joked as he raised his glass nonetheless in celebration along with everyone else, cheery voices calling out 'cheers' resounding in the room.

"Dear~" Misuzu called out threateningly. "You are in your daughter's apartment with her friends and possible in-laws and you're asking for alcohol? We both promised to stop drinking, didn't we?" She asked as her hand gripped his bicep tightly. Tabigake just laughed nervously as everyone else pitied him but were ultimately amused by the couple's display.

Mikoto could only smile at the scene before her, as she picked up the tray on the table and walked back to the kitchen. Once she set the tray down, she took out her phone from her pocket and tracked down the cake that she had ordered.

 _The ordered cake is still in store. Would you like to have it delivered?_

Mikoto sighed before checking the time. It was already six, but no still no news from Touma.

To: Kamijou Touma (idiot)

Body: Hey. Everyone's already here. I just checked and it looks like the cake is still in the shop? Are you still busy at work?

She pressed send and decided to wait a few minutes. She tries busying herself with a few knick knacks here and there, so as to make her absence less suspicious, but several minutes had already passed and her phone showed no signs of receiving a reply.

"Mikoto-chan?" Tabigake called out, making Mikoto turn to him. He set down his glass near the sink and smiled at his daughter. "Is everything alright? You seem a bit...frazzled?"

"No, it's nothing." Mikoto reassured. "I'm fine, Papa, really. But you didn't come over here to just set down a glass now, did you?"

"You're my daughter, I think I can afford to beat around the bush a little when I'm with you, don't you think?" He replied, placing a hand on Mikoto's shoulder. "I really am sorry for not telling you bout Tanaka earlier, Mikoto-chan. I hope you understand my reasons."

"I do understand them, Papa. But logic doesn't really dictate how I feel towards things. You can't blame me for being a little apprehensive about this. The issue of the Sister's is something I can never take lightly, ever."

"I know that, and that's why I left it for him to decide." He said, letting her go. "Tanaka is a good man. You'll understand that once you see him work. I love everyone in the Misaka Network too, Mikoto-chan. I know how you must feel, but you shouldn't be blinded by your hatred for those people who have done you wrong. What's important is the present, what we have right now." He walked over to her and gave her a big hug, to which Mikoto returned in kind. "We all love you, Mikoto-chan, you know that."

"...Of course I do. I love you and Mama and everyone else too..."

"You have to understand that everyone has reasons for the things they do. And for whatever mistakes they may have done in their lives, they also deserve a chance to be forgiven and to redeem themselves." Mikoto could only nod her head, as the warmth from her father's embrace made her heart cringe a little.

"By the way, Papa, why didn't you bring the Sisters along?" She asked, looking up at him. "I thought for sure that Mama would bring them over."

"Yes, well, about that." Tabigake suddenly looked so solemn, as he smiled gently at her, brushing her hair behind her ear. "The Sisters and I have something we wanted to tell you long ago, Mikoto-chan. But the Network decided that hide it until the very last minute if they could."

"The Network? What are they planning on doing this time?"

"For now, I just need you to make yourself free until work starts. Tanaka gave you a week before you officially start, didn't he? Try not to make any plans during that time."

"That's fine with me. It's not like I had any solid plans lined up." Mikoto said, checking her calendar. "Are we going to do something as a family? Will the Kamijou's be there too? I mean, Mama brought them along and all."

"In a sense, it will be a family thing, but we'll leave the matter of involving other people in it to you, once you've seen it. Just try to enjoy tonight as much as you can, okay?' He gave her a kiss on the forehead before ruffling her hair a bit and walking back to the living room where everyone was.

"Well that was weird?" Mikoto thought aloud before checking her phone once more. She only let out a sigh upon noticing that Touma still hadn't replied. He hadn't even called her of asked her about why she called him earlier. She opened up the app of the patisserie, opting for the delivery. Once it was settled and was set to arrive in twenty minutes, Mikoto turned off her phone and left it on the counter, staring at it as if the blank screen was mocking her.

' _Just fucking damnit all to hell.'_

-chapter end-

 **Okay, so a lot of you might hate me for ending this chapter on Mikoto getting pissed off despite knowing that Touma was indeed busy with work. Let me just begin this by saying that I for one think that Mikoto's anger is justified. I mean, she didn't get mad at him the first two times he did it. She even tried understood him and that's great and all but for him to do it a third time without any prior notice, I think she has the right to get mad at him? But well, they're gonna talk about this in the next chapter, so I'll explain more of this there.**

 **Another thing, to be honest, I didn't plan on Tanaka being a part of that research team, but for some reason, that's how this turned out. It just seemed right I guess? And it also helps build Mikoto's character a bit?**

 **BTW, I still dont proof read sosoooo yeah**

 **Well, I guess that's all I have to say. Thanks for reading! Till next time!**


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